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LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#326: Jan 30th 2016 at 2:40:36 PM

Duck Soup is definitely the greatest in my opinion. A must watch for one-liners and the screwiest/hilarious plot ever.

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Aldo930 Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon from Quahog, R.I. Since: Aug, 2013
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
#327: Jan 30th 2016 at 3:20:11 PM

And some of the better musical numbers in a Marx Brothers film - "To war, to war, to war we're gonna go..." (If you know what I mean you're probably humming it now...)

The early Marx Brothers films have the best songs - "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," "Everyone Says I Love You," I could go on. With the dwindling in quality of their films, the songs in them dwindled too; probably the best musical number of their MGM films is the wonderful "Lydia the Tattooed Lady."

Most comedy teams of the 30s had their greatest successes early in the decade and got worse as time went on; I think it has to do with the change in American culture I mentioned earlier.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#328: Jan 30th 2016 at 3:48:12 PM

I love "I'm Against It" from Horsefeathers.

Yeah, I'm sure the effects of the code enforcement really killed the fun and people wanted cheery/boring stuff and so came the death of great Marx bros comedies.

edited 30th Jan '16 3:55:30 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Aldo930 Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon from Quahog, R.I. Since: Aug, 2013
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
#329: Jan 30th 2016 at 4:17:01 PM

I don't think it had to do with the Code so much as the fact that a lot of them eventually went to companies that didn't understand them.

Consider:

  • The Marx Brothers: Thrived at Paramount. Their first few MGM films, A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races, are considered good by most, with A Night At The Opera being one of their best, but their films got worse as they went on. Watch the "Tenement Symphony" scene from The Big Store and you'll see just how low the Marx Brothers had descended.
  • The Little Rascals: Hal Roach gave the property to MGM in 1938, and just like with the Marxes, the films gradually degraded until, by World War II, they were starring in little morality plays about crossing the street and saving money for the war. And the new kids didn't have half the charm of Spanky and Alfalfa. And there was no Leroy Shield music, either.
  • Laurel and Hardy: Went to Fox from Hal Roach in 1940, and while they had already been marginalized at Roach by that time, practically every movie they made after they left Roach was terrible.
  • The Three Stooges: Oddly enough, kept up the quality in their shorts through the War and the replacement of Curly with Shemp. Though I think everybody knows that the shorts with Joe Besser, which came at a pretty low point for the Stooges, are god-awful.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#330: Jan 30th 2016 at 4:44:08 PM

Interesting. I didn't know that except for the Marx brothers change of studio. I guess the smaller studios allowed for more freedom whereas big studios like MGM were big on image but quality...eh, not so much. Depends, of course, but that's my guess in their drop of quality, too.

edited 30th Jan '16 4:44:33 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Aldo930 Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon from Quahog, R.I. Since: Aug, 2013
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
#331: Jan 30th 2016 at 5:02:02 PM

Generally, the studios either didn't get what made them work (as in MGM with the Marxes and the Little Rascals) or kept them in B-pictures (as in Laurel and Hardy).

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#332: Jan 30th 2016 at 8:28:03 PM

I feel like mentioning all the films that Turner Classic Movies will be running during 31 Days Of Oscar. Well, not all at once. But here's their primetime schedule for Feb. 2:

I'm gonna make work pages for those latter two after I watch them. As far as From Here to Eternity goes, Donna Reed was sexy as hell and I kind of like her more as a hooker in this movie than I do in her more typical matronly parts.

I'm a little apprehensive over The Human Comedy. Think I might have developed a Mickey Rooney allergy after the horror that was Love Finds Andy Hardy.

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#333: Jan 31st 2016 at 12:00:16 PM

I recall once, when feeling bewildered, using the expression "I feel like everyone in a Marx Brother film who isn't the Marx Brothers."

Some Marx Brothers movies have the feeling of having two scripts...one that was given to the boys, and one that was given to everyone else, and the non-Marx's were told to stick to their lines. It can seem a little odd at first, but it's often hilarious.

LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#334: Feb 1st 2016 at 1:40:01 PM

I just watched Jezebel and basically everyone in that film has the worst southern accent, especially Henry Fonda.

And we were talking about films with great cinematography, and I'd say I really liked this part from Sweet Smell of Success ([1]). Beautifully staged and choreographed, this scene is just wonderful, because we're indirectly shown who our characters are, and who dominates who; that's what separates a good film from a bad one. And I'm a sucker for fluid camera motions, dunno why.

edited 1st Feb '16 1:40:44 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#335: Feb 2nd 2016 at 6:18:37 PM

Just when you thought Turner Classic Movies could not get any cooler, they get cooler.

For 31 Days Of Oscar this year, they are playing a riff on the Kevin Bacon game in which every film is connected to the next film by a performer common to both, for 31 days in a row. Right now it's The Sting, which is connected to The Verdict by Paul Newman, which is connected to From Here to Eternity by Jack Warden.

http://31days.tcm.com/#2

The best films on the TCM schedule for Feb. 3 are I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang—which was effing robbed of the Oscar that year BTW—at 1400 Eastern and The Third Man at 2200 Eastern. Most of the films they have on Feb. 4 miss our cutoff date but they do have Stage Door, which served to document how good-looking young Lucille Ball was.

Which reminds me of another very entertaining movie featuring young Lucille Ball, Five Came Back. May be the Ur-Example of Cold Equation.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#336: Feb 2nd 2016 at 6:20:08 PM

The other day, my father got me to watch the Steve Mc Queen film The Great Escape. I rather liked it, to be honest. The ending was kind of sad, though.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#337: Feb 2nd 2016 at 6:41:46 PM

My dad also introduced me to The Great Escape, but it's so looooooong. And I like Stalag17 better which has the same premise, and works the ensemble cast in a way that I like. Steve MacQueen was awesome, though; the motorcycle scene is great.

I liked From Here to Eternity, but Frank Sinatra's death in that movie was so bad, that it made me laugh out loud, and kinda took me out of the movie.

Gaaaah, I'm failing the 31 Days of Oscar game!

edited 2nd Feb '16 6:42:36 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Demetrios Lucky Seven from Des Plaines, Illinois (unfortunately) Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#339: Feb 2nd 2016 at 7:01:21 PM

It was pretty long. It had some funny moments (the PO Ws making their own vodka was pretty funny) to lighten it up, but it was pretty dull for some of it.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#340: Feb 2nd 2016 at 7:46:28 PM

[up][up] Another film from 60s that is way too long. I'm too lazy to do the maths for this, but I'm pretty sure that movies got longer running times in the 50s (ie. Epics) and just got even longer in the 60s. Anybody else notice this? I have a hard time sitting through some of those films of that era.

Isn't there like a 15 minute scene in Bullitt just to get a damn fax? I know it was cool/new technology then, but that's a little silly.

EDIT: oops Bullitt is from 1968. My bad.

edited 2nd Feb '16 7:48:10 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Demetrios Lucky Seven from Des Plaines, Illinois (unfortunately) Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Lucky Seven
#341: Feb 2nd 2016 at 7:54:28 PM

I meant the George Clooney version. It made me say "Come on, for the love of God, END!" ^_^;; I have no idea about the original '60s version, though.

Come on! Let's bless them all until we get fershnickered!
Aldo930 Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon from Quahog, R.I. Since: Aug, 2013
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
#342: Feb 2nd 2016 at 7:56:53 PM

[up][up] Part of it is the New Hollywood trend, part of it is the roadshow.

The roadshow was supposed to be movie-going à la a Broadway play; there'd be an overture and an intermission, program books being sold in the theatre - so movies shown at a roadshow had to be long enough to have an intermission.

If you want to know how the roadshow died out, find a copy of the book Roadshow; the short answer is - too many musicals and too many bad musicals.

[up] The original, at least, had Sammy Davis Jr. singing "E-O-Eleven" and led to a hilarious parody on SCTV...

edited 2nd Feb '16 7:59:22 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#343: Feb 2nd 2016 at 8:14:45 PM

I went to a theatrical re-release of The Sound of Music and was confused by the "overture" and "intermission" title cards, because, well, this isn't an opera. Or a play. Just an overly long movie. With singing.

Anyways, that's interesting to know. I'll probably pick up that book because 60s Hollywood isn't my strong suit.

edited 2nd Feb '16 8:17:54 PM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#344: Feb 2nd 2016 at 8:19:27 PM

They put an intermission in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I ended up playing the intermission organ tune from Monty Python and the Holy Grail while it was going on.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#345: Feb 2nd 2016 at 8:21:26 PM

I freaking love The Great Escape - I mean, the way they portray Germany is frankly ridiculous, and it is full of inaccuracies (for example, a prisoner who was going blind would have simply gotten send home on that fact alone - the point of keeping soldiers prisoners is to keep them out of combat which blindness does quite nicely, and this guy wasn't even a soldier in the first place) but it is such a fun movie, despite the ending. Other takes are closer to reality but, well, they don't have Steve Mc Queen.

jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#346: Feb 2nd 2016 at 10:50:03 PM

You guys don't like intermissions?

Good Lord, y'all are the classic movie fans!

Intermissions are a good thing. We don't have intermissions anymore, which is why you have to walk into a Lord of the Rings movie or Titanic knowing that either you have to go without a drink or you'll have to get up from your seat before it's over. And that's why we have runpee.com. Because there are no more intermissions.

As for overtures, well, just imagine the 20 minutes before your movie starts that is now filled by commercials and trailers. That's when the overture would have played.

And why shouldn't The Sound of Music be long? Didn't stop it from being the third highest-grossing film in the United States of all time, still, adjusted for inflation. People could go see The Sound of Music even though it was so long because they knew there was an intermission in the middle.

The Great Escape was 172 minutes long, which was long I guess, but certainly not the longest Epic Movie of that era.

Bullitt (yes, misses our cutoff) is 1 hour, 53 minutes long.

edited 2nd Feb '16 10:50:43 PM by jamespolk

LongTallShorty64 Frumpy and grumpy Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Frumpy and grumpy
#347: Feb 3rd 2016 at 2:20:00 AM

If a movie wants to be long, that's fine; however, I like when things are succinct and can manage to be moving and wonderful under the 2 hour mark —and 2 hours is pushing it. That's just me. Strangely, I was able to watch The Best Years of Our Lives, a 3 hour movie, but it took me three tries.

Maybe Bullitt is only 1 53 minutes, but it felt much, much longer.

edited 3rd Feb '16 2:21:10 AM by LongTallShorty64

"It's true that we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman."
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#348: Feb 3rd 2016 at 3:47:35 AM

I have no problem with two hours or even a little bit more, but everything approaching three hours or more is pushing it imho. That's not a movie, it's a two parter imho.

Aldo930 Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon from Quahog, R.I. Since: Aug, 2013
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
#349: Feb 3rd 2016 at 6:54:09 AM

[up][up][up] Gott in Himmel, there really is an app for everything these days...

If you want to know why intermissions no longer exist, blame the death of the roadshow.

edited 3rd Feb '16 6:54:35 AM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#350: Feb 3rd 2016 at 8:40:35 AM

"That's not a movie, it's a two parter imho."

Hence the Intermission! Get up, stretch your legs, hit the toilet, hit the refreshment stand.


Watched The Lost Weekend. The ending is a cheat—I guess it was 1945 and Billy Wilder had to find a way to end his movie, and he couldn't have Don kill himself or face a life of despair. The ending is still a cheat, though. Everything before that is magnificent, however. Love Don's Pink Elephants scene.

edited 3rd Feb '16 8:42:00 AM by jamespolk


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