Wow, Metropolis is batshit... There's a Lang retro next month. Doing some writing on Pynchon's use of Lang and such. It's all very very insane and strange.
― Frederik B, Monday, 21 September 2015 23:29 (eight years ago) link
Saw The Woman in the Window for the first time in ages; so good. People still fight over the "cop out" ending, but it works better than it should. Edward G Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea *almost* as good as they are the following year in Scarlet Street.
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, 23 July 2018 01:58 (five years ago) link
Saw a Metropolis screening on Friday night at the BlueDot Festival with Factory Floor's new score accompanying. V good.
― Minister of the Pillow (fionnland), Monday, 23 July 2018 09:39 (five years ago) link
Saw The Woman in the Window for the first time in ages; so good. People still fight over the "cop out" ending, but it works better than it should.
I just watched it for the first time and there's definitely some great stuff here (the scenes between Bennett and Duryea especially) but I actually think the ending works *less* than it should--not only do they go there, they go full on Wizard of Oz with it too!
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Thursday, 26 July 2018 18:04 (five years ago) link
It's better than Scarlet Street.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 July 2018 00:02 (five years ago) link
i watched Metropolis earlier this year it was incredible
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 27 July 2018 00:20 (five years ago) link
xpost
What do you make of the ending?
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Friday, 27 July 2018 02:21 (five years ago) link
The rhythm of the film is akin to a dream anyway, so it don't bother me; besides, it seemed less fatuous in the 1940s.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 July 2018 02:29 (five years ago) link
On zing so can’t easily search, wondering if this thread mentions his interesting appearance in Contempt
― 3-Way Tie (For James Last) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 27 July 2018 02:38 (five years ago) link
Just seen the Destiny/Der Mude Tod. Lil Dagover looking very fine and Death looks quite striking too (as he should) but not quite the sets/compositions I was hoping for.
Extras show screens of a really incredible candle scene from another film apparently inspired by Destiny. Cant remember the name, perhaps a Mexican film.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 8 March 2019 22:04 (five years ago) link
Fritz Lang on the comic strip. pic.twitter.com/z9V2Q1zzZt— SHADOWPLAY (@dcairns) June 28, 2020
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 22:20 (three years ago) link
Heard Hans Magnus Enzensberger talk about that once.
― Two Spocks Clash (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 22:31 (three years ago) link
very cool
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 30 June 2020 22:41 (three years ago) link
I watched THE TESTAMENT OF DR MABUSE (1933).
I love Inspector Lohmannm, and admire the style of love interest Lilli (though I'm not sure she's terribly well acted).
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 September 2020 14:16 (three years ago) link
* LOHMANN - as they say in the film.
FURY (1936) feels like a US allegory of Nazi demagoguery and mob rule - which would clearly make sense with Lang at the time - though I'm not sure whether that was the idea. Powerful film!
Curious that Sylvia Sidney isn't better known.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 12:09 (three years ago) link
She peaked in that era -- have you see Sabotage and You Only Live Once? Then she turned to the stage.
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 13:20 (three years ago) link
I love that the trial evidence in "Fury" is footage from the movie itself.
― wasdnous (abanana), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 13:34 (three years ago) link
I'm planning to watch YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!
Interesting about ms Sidney, and I've been informed today that her last film was MARS ATTACKS! She was also, remarkably, briefly married to the publisher who got Ulysses unbanned.
Yes I enjoyed that footage and especially how it was freeze-framed!
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 14:23 (three years ago) link
She was also, remarkably, briefly married to the publisher who got Ulysses unbanned.
― kiss some penis reference (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 19:37 (three years ago) link
LOOOL
― An Andalusian Do-rag (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 19:39 (three years ago) link
A fave bit of trivia: Sylvia Sidney played Mother Carlson in the WKRP pilot, but declined to do the series because she thought it was stupid.
― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:15 (three years ago) link
Oscar-nominated for the sleepy Joanne Woodward soaper Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams and was of course in Beetlejuice.
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:18 (three years ago) link
Yeah, was gonna say that performance is like supporting actressexual manna (well both, actually, but mostly meant the one she was actually nominated for).
― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:19 (three years ago) link
Xp Joyce had issues with his bookmarks too
― Four Seasons Total Manscaping (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 12 November 2020 02:01 (three years ago) link
I just watched RANCHO NOTORIOUS (1952).
A very eccentric Western!
Dietrich brings something like Weimar singing (and accent) - in a role unlike most I've ever seen for a woman in a Western. Lang brings repeated flashbacks, big close-ups, and a satirical vignette on crooked politics. It's all framed by a rather dubious cowboy ballad.
― the pinefox, Monday, 28 December 2020 10:31 (three years ago) link
An odd film, for better or worse (often better).
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 28 December 2020 10:34 (three years ago) link
I love the paragraph in Patrick McGilligan's biography - there's a more interesting/amusing film than Mank to be made about Fritz Lang getting togged up to go barn dancing:
Lang had become enamoured of American square dancing. "He wanted to try it out," said Richards. "We watched what the people did. Pretty soon we were do-si-doing." For a spell the director and his screenwriter-girlfriend were regulars at Los Angeles square dance events. "Fritz wore a wonderful Western shirt with a silver bull's head holding the kerchief, and cowboy boots," Richards said. "I wore ruffled petticoats and skirts. We went square dancing all over this town for about a year and a half. Let me tell you, there's nothing like a man square-dancing in a cowboy suit with a monocle."
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 28 December 2020 11:58 (three years ago) link
Just saw The Tiger of Eschnapur was available on Kanopy. Didn’t finish it yet but great so far.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Monday, 28 December 2020 21:03 (three years ago) link
Wow, you still have access to Kanopy.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 December 2020 21:13 (three years ago) link
Huh?
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Monday, 28 December 2020 21:21 (three years ago) link
A bunch of us used to get Kanopy through our public libraries but it went away due to the way they billed the libraries
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 December 2020 21:27 (three years ago) link
Oh that really sucks.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Monday, 28 December 2020 21:28 (three years ago) link
kanopy: thoughtful entertainment. what are you watching now?
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 December 2020 21:29 (three years ago) link
I guess it definitely seemed too good to be true.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Monday, 28 December 2020 21:34 (three years ago) link
Kanopy still exists! Glad my local system is still hanging onto it, for now
― Nhex, Thursday, 31 December 2020 02:27 (three years ago) link
Starting watching Man Hunt and was wondering if George Sanders could actually speak German and came across this:https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/interview-with-fritz-lang-beverley-hills-august-12-1972
― Wile E. Galore (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 March 2023 00:32 (one year ago) link
George Sanders' accent in Man Hunt was discussed in the German film publication Revolver 38. Christoph Hochhäusler comes to the conclusion that Sanders wasn't a German speaker and that Lang must have "tortured him until he was bleeding" to achieve the required result. For Hochhäusler, two or three of Sanders' sentences sound pretty authentic, but the actor betrays his roots when he has to display emotion in German.
― Portsmouth Bubblejet, Sunday, 5 March 2023 11:21 (one year ago) link
Thanks! The way I was hearing it was that his accent was close but a little bit off and often he was speaking really fast, much faster than necessary, which ended up making it worse and giving the game away that he wasn’t totally comfortable with what he was saying.
― Wile E. Galore (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 March 2023 13:15 (one year ago) link
That's one of the few Lang films from its era I've still not seen. Similar period to CLOAK & DAGGER with Gary Cooper?
― the pinefox, Sunday, 5 March 2023 13:17 (one year ago) link
Both are okay.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 March 2023 13:20 (one year ago) link
That whole Revolver 38 article seems interesting, thanks again.
― Wile E. Galore (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 March 2023 13:31 (one year ago) link
Was watching it because it was part of the Joan Bennett collection that’s about to go off of Criterion because of you but then switched over to the Guru Dutt collection instead. To me, all Hollywood Lang is kind of of a mixed bag, apart from The Big Heat and Rancho Notorious . Or maybe even The Woman in the Window which is also in the collection, maybe I should revisit that one. This one has some interesting elements- screenwriter Dudley Nichols, based on the recently republished by NYRB novel Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Householder- so maybe I should finish watching and then report back.
― Wile E. Galore (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:05 (one year ago) link
The Woman in the Window and Fury are his best Hollywood flicks.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:07 (one year ago) link
Certainly those are both very strong.
So are YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, YOU & ME, THE BIG HEAT, HUMAN DESIRE.
I've been putting off watching SCARLET STREET for years, must do it.
The Westerns of 1940-1 are, to be honest, not his strongest, though still worth seeing.
Truly beyond my ken are the two late films in India.
― the pinefox, Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:45 (one year ago) link
Oh yeah! The Big Heat.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:46 (one year ago) link
YOU & ME is one of the most Brechtian Hollywood films I've ever seen, not least in its extraordinary opening montage about money, as I recall. It even has songs by Kurt Weill.
― the pinefox, Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:46 (one year ago) link
or Bert Brecht as the credit on HANGMEN ALSO DIE has him
― satori enabler (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 5 March 2023 14:54 (one year ago) link
Yes, another tremendous film. I only didn't list it above because I didn't think of it as American ... but I suppose it is.
― the pinefox, Sunday, 5 March 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link
the BERT has always made me chuckle which is why it sticks i think
― satori enabler (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 5 March 2023 16:52 (one year ago) link