Our favorite film blogger and southern belle of belle lettres, the Siren, has posted her contribution to Goatdog's Movies About Movies Blogathon. The Siren's written about The Bad and the Beautiful starring Kirk Douglas as a manipulative monster of a movie studio exec and Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Gilbert Roland and others as doomed and self-destructive victims of Douglas' ego, all of whom may remind film buffs of a real-life Hollywood monster and his victims:
The game of "guess who THIS is" is quite fun and all but basically irrelevant, and Minnelli signals that in part by keeping the connections so flippin' obvious. Lana Turner's father-obsessed starlet stands in for Diana Barrymore, the Southern writer (Dick Powell) who hates Hollywood and wants to go home is an obvious take on Faulkner, the director (Barry Sullivan) plays Jacques Tourneur to Shields' Val Lewton on a movie called "Attack of the Cat Man"--I mean, with that last you wonder why they even changed the names. Aside from the Lewton echo the Shields character rings a bell, or more like a cathedral, for David O. Selznick, what with producing a large epic with a big death scene, even if it's set in Russia and not Georgia, and then moving on to Dick Powell's sexy Southern epic, The Proud Land (Faulkner would have thrown up, but never mind).
Go on over to her place to read her post and then follow the link to Goatdog's for more fun. I especially enjoyed reading Bob at Forward to Yesterday's take on the Blake Edwards' S.O.B., a movie I'm sorry to hear Bob doesn't think quite holds up. For some reason I can't explain to myself S.O.B. grabbed me by the funny bone and wouldn't let go. I went to see it about six times when it was in the theaters, dragging friends along and demanding they love the movie as much as I did. Nothing in Bob's post tells me what in God's name might have enthralled me, and, no, it wasn't the sight---a quick glimpse, really---of Julie Andrews' "boobies." They were perfectly charming, but I'm sure I had other reasons for liking S.O.B. so much, and no it wasn't the sight of Rosanna Arquette's tits either. Geez. You people. I think it was Robert Preston's one-liners, none of which were actually funny, he just made them funny.
Patient: Will this work?
Preston (as a doctor about to stick a needle in the patient): Is Batman a transvestite? Who knows?
And:
Pretty girl at a party: What do you do?
Preston: I breed armadillos.
Pretty girl: Is that satisfying work?
Preston: Oh yes. You know what they say. Make an armadillo happy and the world is your oyster.
Pretty girl: I think I have heard that.
Preston: I used to breed oysters but it didn't have the same ring to it. Make an oyster happy and the world is your armadillo.
Or maybe it was Julie Andrews' breasts.
At any rate, read Bob's post, read the Siren's, and keep in mind this:
Wednesday Night at the Movies is returning to newcritics in September!
The Siren has chosen our feature films and she'll be hosting the open threads, starting with Hitchcock's Rear Window on September 10.
All six of her chosen films are set in and about life in New York City, and the Siren's picked them with themes in mind. Here's her schedule:
September 10: People-watching - Rear Window.
September 17: Ambition -- Sweet Smell of Success.
September 24: Drudgery (loneliness) - The Apartment
October 1: Romance - Desperately Seeking Susan
October 8: Resilience Double Feature - Serpico and 25th Hour
The Siren, always gracious, has graciously yielded the hosting duties for The Apartment to a fellow blogger who counts that Billy Wilder classic as one of his ten favorite movies of all time, and with this one I know why I love it.
Free Official Lance Mannion baseball cap to the first three readers who correctly guess what I already know I'm going to title my post.
Send your guesses by email. Caps designed and embroidered by Uncle Merlin. Colors may vary.
I loved S.O.B, but not for the biting satire of Hollywood part (which I liked and respected, but no more than that.) What I loved was the sweetness of the last section, where Richard Mulligan's friends made sure that that poor, doomed man at least got the send-off he deserved.
Posted by: Mike Schilling | Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 07:47 PM
I dearly love The Apartment. Doesn't it seem at the end that Bud and Miss Kubelik are still alone? They have each other but they've lost their jobs and will have to start over again somewhere else. You know those smug jerks at Consolidated Life will get away with mistreating not just Bud and Fran but everyone who works for them (they'll all be retired by the time the first sexual harassment lawsuit comes to court).
Today the movie would have to end with Bud and Fran taking over the insurance company by pulling off an elaborate scheme with the help of Sheldrake's scorned secretary and Karl Matushka, and Sheldrake, Dobish and the other jerks being publicly humiliated.
Posted by: MaryC | Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 08:13 PM
By the way, you said you wanted guesses as to the title of your post by email but mine's not working. Let's just say I know it's going to end in "-wise" -- guesswise.
Posted by: MaryC | Friday, August 29, 2008 at 01:14 AM
Wow, Lance -- thanks for the link and kind words. I've been finishing up a project for the last few days, so this is the first I've seen of this.
Anyhow, all I can say is that, while I was saddened myself to see that "S.O.B." hasn't held up as well for me as the famed Julie Andrews breasts -- Johnny Carson had a quip you probably already know thanking her for showing that "the hills were still alive" -- I feel your pain. I remember seeing it with a couple of friends (the Bruin Theater in Westwood, I think). Even if I don't love it now, I don't think that devalues the experience of seeing it before.
And it was great to hear Preston delivering those lines again.
Posted by: Bob | Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 09:33 PM
Wow, Lance -- thanks for the link and kind words. I've been finishing up a project for the last few days, so this is the first I've seen of this.
Anyhow, all I can say is that, while I was saddened myself to see that "S.O.B." hasn't held up as well for me as the famed Julie Andrews breasts -- Johnny Carson had a quip you probably already know thanking her for showing that "the hills were still alive" -- I feel your pain. I remember seeing it with a couple of friends (the Bruin Theater in Westwood, I think). Even if I don't love it now, I don't think that devalues the experience of seeing it before.
And it was great to hear Preston delivering those lines again.
Posted by: Bob | Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 09:35 PM
Eek! Double post. How'd that happen? Sorry! Feel free to remove the one you like least!
Posted by: Bob | Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 10:05 PM