Hollywood Movies Antakshari Options

[mmuk2004]

So many goodies to comment on. Will do later... But I must ask all of you to give The Shop Around the Corner another chance:


The Shop Around the Corner(1940) was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, the master of the genre of sophisticated comedies. Shop is a little different, it is a gentler romance, and yet the Lubitsch touch is evident,in the subtle details in this controlled comedy of manners. It is not witty or sparkling, but completely understated and I personally found it tremendously rewarding watching it the second time around. Watch it not just for the romance of Klara and Kralik which is framed by Lubitsch's gentle irony, but for all the supporting characters and their interactions. Schildkraut as the unctious Vadas, who everybody avoids, Pirovitch who has a family to support and who tries to avoid giving his opinion, Pepi the delivery boy who introduces himself as "liason person" to the doctor, and the wonderful Frank Morgan(the wizard of the Wizard of Oz) as the likeable, irascible store owner Hugo Matuschek. And as the movie is about a store, watch the comedy arising out of the scenes where the three main characters give their sales pitch. And as for the romance, pay attention to not just the zingers between the main characters but the comedy arising out of the idea of a romance of thoughts between them. I loved the scene where Kralik(James Stewart) is tells Bressart(Pirovitch) about the romance and compares his situation to that of a person about to open a Christmas check (that's the American spelling ). And the details...notice the look on Perovitch's face as he imagines the situation...

Here is a sample of the conversation:

P: Tell me who is the girl
K: YOu know that girl I was corresponding with?
P: O yes about the cultural subjects...
K: Well after a while we got on the subject of love. Naturally on a very cultural level...
P: Well, what else can you do in a letter?
K: She is the most wonderful woman in the world.
P: Is she pretty?
K: She has such ideas, and such a view point on things that she is so far above all the girls you meet today that there is just no comparison.
P: So she is not so very pretty...

Here is the scene:



And then there is so much more. It is about loneliness and about job uncertainties and it is a "Christmas" movie (It predates It's a Wonderful Life by six years) and then it has a wonderful ending that knits the romance, the spirit and the comedy together.


By the way, the British comedy, You are Being Served was inspired by this movie.

This post has been edited by mmuk2004: May 17 2009, 07:45 AM

[mmuk2004]

Love in the Afternoon 1957

Billy Wilder, was a great admirer of Ernst Lubitsch. Love in the Afternoon starring a young Audrey Hepburn and an ageing Gary Cooper is the closest he came to Lubitsch's romantic comedies. He cast Maurice Chevalier(who acted in a number of Lubitsch films) as Audrey's detective father. Cooper playes the philanderer that he had played successfully in Lubitsch's films twenty-five years ago. The story is about a young girl who steals her detective father's dossier and flees to warn a rich philanderer, who she falls in love with. She pretends to be a woman of the world and Cooper in turn hires Chevalier to find out about her.

Everyone blamed Cooper for the film's failure. Gossip: Cooper got a complete facelift done in 1958, but it was not very successful.

This post has been edited by mmuk2004: May 17 2009, 05:17 AM

[simplefable]

Wow...now, i got one more film to find !
saw a bit of this film on TCM, if i recall correctly. BTW..i do love shop around the corner..those films are so subtle..with lots to interpret between every dialogue. The characters were so real and so were the cicumstances..

[hildebrand]

So many goodies to comment on. Will do later... But I must ask all of you to give The Shop Around the Corner another chance:


The Shop Around the Corner(1940) was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, the master of the genre of sophisticated comedies. Shop is a little different, it is a gentler romance, and yet the Lubitsch touch is evident,in the subtle details in this controlled comedy of manners. It is not witty or sparkling, but completely understated and I personally found it tremendously rewarding watching it the second time around. Watch it not just for the romance of Klara and Kralik which is framed by Lubitsch's gentle irony, but for all the supporting characters and their interactions. Schildkraut as the unctious Vadas, who everybody avoids, Pirovitch who has a family to support and who tries to avoid giving his opinion, Pepi the delivery boy who introduces himself as "liason person" to the doctor, and the wonderful Frank Morgan(the wizard of the Wizard of Oz) as the likeable, irascible store owner Hugo Matuschek. And as the movie is about a store, watch the comedy arising out of the scenes where the three main characters give their sales pitch. And as for the romance, pay attention to not just the zingers between the main characters but the comedy arising out of the idea of a romance of thoughts between them. I loved the scene where Kralik(James Stewart) is tells Bressart(Pirovitch) about the romance and compares his situation to that of a person about to open a Christmas check (that's the American spelling ). And the details...notice the look on Perovitch's face as he imagines the situation...

Here is a sample of the conversation:

P: Tell me who is the girl
K: YOu know that girl I was corresponding with?
P: O yes about the cultural subjects...
K: Well after a while we got on the subject of love. Naturally on a very cultural level...
P: Well, what else can you do in a letter?
K: She is the most wonderful woman in the world.
P: Is she pretty?
K: She has such ideas, and such a view point on things that she is so far above all the girls you meet today that there is just no comparison.
P: So she is not so very pretty...

Here is the scene:



And then there is so much more. It is about loneliness and about job uncertainties and it is a "Christmas" movie (It predates It's a Wonderful Life by six years) and then it has a wonderful ending that knits the romance, the spirit and the comedy together.


By the way, the British comedy, You are Being Served was inspired by this movie.

Thanks Madhavi for describing it. I'll keep an eye out for it. I am told its better than its remakes. Your review confirms it!

[simplefable]

I got this film on net..and was surprised to find it to be a pretty decent film. One of those films which are lost ..i suppose. The film is a World WAr II counter-espionage drama.. based on a real life incident. The British want to pass on a snippet of false information about the allied efforts ...through a bag chained to the wrist of a dead german person. Ofcourse the german is a fiction character created by the british !
The germans, suspicious of foul play...try to find holes in the history of a man who never existed...and the rest is as they...history. Dont miss it if you can get your hand on this fine film...

[Faraaj73]

I got this film on net..and was surprised to find it to be a pretty decent film. One of those films which are lost ..i suppose. The film is a World WAr II counter-espionage drama.. based on a real life incident. The British want to pass on a snippet of false information about the allied efforts ...through a bag chained to the wrist of a dead german person. Ofcourse the german is a fiction character created by the british !
The germans, suspicious of foul play...try to find holes in the history of a man who never existed...and the rest is as they...history. Dont miss it if you can get your hand on this fine film...

SF

There are lots of lost gems....I haven't heard of this one so thanks for introducing it - I'll put it on my radar...but, I think it will be difficult to find...which site on the net do you use? I am familiar with the cast because of my love of noir. Clifton Webb was in Laura and Gloria Grahame in the excellent In a Lonely Place....the director was a well-known British cinematographer who worked with Noel Coward.....

Straw Dogs (1971)
A Sam Peckinpah film. He made The Wild Bunch (1969) which is one of the greatest films ever made. Straw Dogs is his second best film and in many ways more violent than The Wild Bunch. This was banned in the UK at least upto the mid-90s because of the infamous rape scene.


This post has been edited by Faraaj73: May 21 2009, 03:00 PM

[simplefable]

Faraaj..the pleasure is mine.
Saw straw dogs..one fine film. a bit violent..but Hoffman was brilliant. I keep looking at odd films at random, without specifics...as O.Henry says..am the true adventurer who meets and greets an unknown fate..

i found " the man who never was on rapidshare..you can just google " the man who never was on rapidshare" and you will be there.. the link is still active as i checked out..



This is one more favorite films of mine..
Haley joel osment's mom drops him off at his uncles' place as she goes off on a job hunt. The boy has to cope up with two hard nosed men..with hearts of gold. but trust me, it takes real love to bring them out. A wonderful film which leaves lots of memories with you ...Michael caine and Robert duwall play the key roles...but in the end it was a film which goes beyond characters and roles and delves deep into our selves...to discover the beauty and poignancy of life !! Just dont miss it !!

[hildebrand]

Strangers On A Train (1951)



A must watch for the lovers of Hitchcock Movies.

[Sharmila-Sweet]

NOTTING HILL

one of my favorite romantic films

[hildebrand]

Lonely Wives

Its a 1931 comedy Directed by Russell Mack and starring Edward Everett Horton (who plays a double role), Esther Ralston, and Laura La Plante.
It is based on a play of the same name.

Here is a link to download the movie for your enjoyment:-
http://www.archive.org/download/Lonely_Wiv..._1931_512kb.mp4

[Sharmila-Sweet]

SERENDIPITY

Another favorite of mine (Hindi version Milenge Milenge was also good)

[Rushin]

You Only Live Twice

[hildebrand]

Escape By Night(1937)



Watch the movie here:-
http://www.archive.org/details/escape_by_night

[Sharmila-Sweet]

Titanic

[hildebrand]

Charade