The Uninvited (1944)

Considering the sheer number of horror films to come out of Hollywood during the 1940’s, it is simply astonishing that there should be so few movies about hauntings made during that decade in which the ghosts turn out to be unambiguously real. In fact, I’m pretty sure Paramount’s The Uninvited (helmed by Lewis Allen, who would become an enormously prolific television director in the mid-1950’s) is the only one I’ve ever seen. Whereas most 40’s “ghost” movies portrayed phantoms, wraiths, and specters who would eventually stand revealed as a Nazi spy or the impossibly wealthy young heroine’s avaricious uncle or some such thing, The Uninvited plays it completely straight, and even goes so far as to posit a house haunted by two ghosts— one of them good, the other evil, and the both of them squabbling fiercely over the fate of someone still living. Nor is it, as was generally the case on those extremely rare occasions when a 40’s film dealt with an authentic ghost, a comedy or a romance. There are elements of both comedy and romance in The Uninvited, but the movie’s main business is unquestionably the protagonists’ quest to uncover the secrets that will finally lay the warring spirits to rest.

Those protagonists are pianist and London newspaper music critic Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland, from Terror in the Wax Museum and The Premature Burial) and his sister, Pamela (Ruth Hussey). The Fitzgeralds are nearing the end of a holiday in Cornwall when they discover a huge and beautiful mansion standing abandoned atop the sea cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. The pair end up letting themselves in through an open window when their dog, Bobby, chases a squirrel inside, and Pamela instantly falls in love with the place. It reminds her very much of the house where she and Rick grew up, and it’s in such an excellent state of preservation that it would not be utterly ridiculous to imagine living there. Pam talks her brother into checking around to discover who owns the place, and making an offer to buy in the event that the house on the cliff is for sale.

The house turns out to belong to a retired naval officer by the name of Commander Beech (Donald Crisp, from Svengali and the 1941 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). When the Fitzgeralds go to see Beech, they are greeted by his granddaughter, Stella Meredith (The Unseen’s Gail Russell), who tells them that the commander is out at the moment, but should be returning relatively soon. While Pam and Rick wait in Beech’s study, they mention to Stella that they’re interested in buying the old mansion, which the girl identifies as Winward House. This obviously disturbs Stella for some reason, and she begins attempting to hurry the visitors out, saying that Winward House is not for sale, regardless of what Roderick may have heard to the contrary. That’s when Beech comes home. In flat contradiction to what his granddaughter was saying, Beech confirms that he is looking to sell Winward House, and indeed that he’s willing to do so for even as little as £1200, the almost insultingly low figure which Rick offers (presumably in an attempt to indulge his sister’s new fixation while simultaneously stacking the deck against actually having to follow through on it). The Fitzgeralds are stunned, and though Roderick makes a short-lived effort to backpedal, Pamela pushes him ahead into closing the deal.

So why was Commander Beech so eager to unload the mansion on the cliff, and why was his daughter willing to resort to subterfuge to stop him from doing so? Well, the house had been in Beech’s family for generations, but its last occupants were his daughter, Mary, and her husband, a painter named John Meredith. Stella also spent the first years of her life under its roof. Mary was killed in a fall from the cliffs when Stella was three years old, and Meredith died too not long thereafter. The house thus has strong associations for both the old man and his granddaughter, but their respective currents of sentiment run in opposite directions. For Stella, Winward House is all that remains of her mother; for Beech, it is the scene of the most terrible loss he has ever suffered. As we shall see, however, there is more to the commander’s desire to be quit of Winward House than painful memories. Ever since Mary Meredith died, the mansion has had a reputation for hauntedness, and though Beech is at pains to deny any such thing, he does indeed believe that there are spirits walking its corridors. More to the point, he believes that there are malign spirits, which mean to do harm to Stella specifically.

A rather large monkey wrench is thrown into Beech’s plan for keeping his granddaughter and the ghosts at arm’s reach from each other, however, when Stella befriends the Fitzgeralds shortly after they move in, and indeed strikes up a romance with Roderick. The commander forbids the relationship, but he finds a modern-minded twenty-year-old girl to be rather less controllable than the crew of a torpedo boat destroyer, and all he really accomplishes is to make himself sick with emotional overexertion. So concerned does he become, in fact, and so resistant does he find Stella, that he places a phone call to a mysterious woman named Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner) to make arrangements for the girl’s removal from the scene by force, should no other option present itself. Meanwhile, the Fitzgeralds are discovering that the rumors of “disturbances” in Winward House are absolutely true. The pets refuse to set foot on the second floor, cold drafts blow through the house in places where they can’t be accounted for, a woman can be heard sobbing shortly before dawn nearly every morning, maid Lizzy Flynn (Barbara Everest, of Gaslight and These Are the Damned) sees a spectral apparition of a woman in white, and the room upstairs which John Meredith used as his studio gives off an inexplicable aura of menace and despair. Nor does it take long before Stella encounters the strange manifestations at Winward House, but she reacts to them rather differently than the place’s new owners. Though she is initially as frightened as anyone by the presence in the studio, and though something briefly seizes control of her and causes her to come within an ace of running off the cliff to her almost certain death, there is something else in the house which Stella finds soothing and comforting. In particular, there is something in Winward House which manifests itself with the smell of mimosas, and it is that scent that convinces Stella the mansion is haunted by her mother. You see, when she was but a child, her father gave her a bottle of her mother’s perfume, which she has since parceled out so sparingly that she still has a small quantity of it even today; that perfume smells strongly of mimosa.

All of this gives Pam and Rick a great deal to think about. On the one hand, they know very well that strange and inexplicable things routinely occur in their new house, but Roderick at least is not quite ready to dive headlong into believing the place is haunted. Stella, unshakably convinced that it’s the spirit of her mother in Winward House, wants to spend as much time there as possible, but her first encounter with the forces inhabiting the place nearly killed her. After talking the matter over with neighborhood physician Dr. Scott (Alan Napier, from Journey to the Center of the Earth and Isle of the Dead), Roderick and Pamela decide to stage a séance in Winward House. Neither of the men believe in the efficacy of such things, but they think Stella will, and they also believe there’s a good chance that a fake message from Mary Meredith directing Stella to steer clear of the house will keep her safe from whatever it is that nearly pitched her off the cliff that night. The séance initially goes perfectly according to plan, with the improvised ouija board identifying the ghost as Stella’s mother, and denying that it wants Stella in the house with it, but then things diverge rather sharply from the script. The makeshift planchette suddenly begins picking up real signals from the ghost, which informs Stella that it is in the house not because it was waiting around for a reunion, but because it is standing guard. If the ghost is to be believed, there is a second presence in the house, somebody named Carmel, and that this second presence is a danger to Stella. Then the room grows cold, and something seizes the wineglass which Stella, Scott, and the Fitzgeralds had been using as their planchette, and shatters it against the nearest fireplace.

So who is this Carmel, and what does she have to do with Winward House and the Meredith family? As Rick and Pamela will gradually piece together, Carmel was an artist’s model whom Stella’s father often employed, and with whom he was cheating on his wife. She was at Winward House on the night when Mary Meredith died, and her presence has led to much speculation over the possibility that Mary’s fall was neither accident nor suicide, but murder instead. But whatever happened between the two women out on the cliffs, it went nearly as badly for Carmel, who died herself just a couple of days later. Furthermore, Dr. Scott has in his possession a diary kept by his predecessor which makes it sound as though Carmel may have been allowed to die deliberately by the nurse who treated her in the aftermath of the confrontation. That nurse had been hired by the family to look after Commander Beech, who had a weak heart even back then, and there is some indication that she was Mary Meredith’s lesbian lover as well— certainly that would go some way toward explaining why Mary put up with her husband’s infidelity for so long, to say nothing of the motive it would provide the nurse for a revenge killing after Mary’s fatal fall. The nurse’s name? Why, it’s Holloway, of course. But as is usual for movies like this one, the ties between Carmel and the Meredith family were really much more complicated than is realized by anyone who is willing to talk about them, and Stella herself is at the center of the undying rivalry between the two dead women.

So far as I’ve seen, nobody but RKO was making horror movies as serious and mature as The Uninvited as a matter of course during the 1940’s, and to watch The Uninvited is to wonder why the hell not. Though it is hampered by a few descents into the maudlin or the saccharine, and by an obtrusively melodramatic score from the unaccountably well-regarded Victor Young, The Uninvited was probably the best cinematic ghost story to be made in the English-speaking world until Robert Wise’s The Haunting almost twenty years later. The spook scenes are commendably creepy— even the ones involving the benevolent ghost of Stella’s mother— and the visible manifestations of the evil ghost are nearly as effective as the nightmare scene with the animate wedding dress in The Amazing Mr. X. The mystery surrounding the haunting is unraveled in a believable manner, and the answers that are uncovered involve a startling amount of taboo material for a 1940’s Hollywood film. What levity there is comes not in the form of typical comic relief, but rather through the much more satisfying expedient of making one of the central characters a roguishly sarcastic wise-ass. And speaking of that roguishly sarcastic wise-ass, B-movie fans are likely to be knocked for a loop by Ray Milland’s performance. We, after all, are accustomed to seeing him as an older and grouchier man in the movies he made for American International during the 60’s and 70’s; his turn here as a dapper young sophisticate— let alone a romantic leading man— sets him in an entirely new context, and one which he inhabits with unexpected ease and assuredness. All in all, the biggest mystery in The Uninvited is not the origin of the haunting of Winward House, but rather why so few movies like this one were made in the United States during the old days.

Robert Redford remembers Paul Newman

I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, introduced us in New York City. When the studio didn't want me for the film it wanted somebody as well known as Paul he stood up for me. I don't know how many people would have done that; they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers. The friendship that grew out of the experience of making that film and The Sting four years later had its genesis in the fact that although there was an age difference, we both came from a tradition of theater and live TV. We were respectful of craft and focused on digging into the characters we were going to play.

Both of us were fundamentally American actors, with the qualities and virtues that characterize American actors: irreverence, playing on the other's flaws for fun, one-upmanship but always with an underlying affection. Those were also at the core of our relationship off the screen. Paul was very engaged at work. He was there. He liked a lot of rehearsal. But he was fun too. Whenever he'd make a mistake on set, he would enjoy it more than anybody. I'd look at him, and he'd look at me, and I'd say, "You're not fooling anybody. You're not staring at me intensely; you've lost your line." And he'd roar with laughter.

We shared the belief that if you're fortunate enough to have success, you should put something back he with his Newman's Own food and his Hole in the Wall camps for kids who are gravely ill, and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didn't see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events. And then we'd give each other a hard time. Whatever success one of us would have, the other would knock it down. If you're in a position of being viewed iconically, you'd better have a mechanism to take yourself down to keep the balance. I think we did that for each other.

With fanaticism about James Bond at its highest level since the 1960s, it's not surprising that the collector's market is booming. However, if you think people will be impressed by your 1979 Mego Moonraker action figures, try topping this: an unnamed Bond fan has spent £200,000 to purchase an Aston Martin that was accidentally wrecked during the filming of Quantum Of Solace. The car ended up in a lake and is not driveable. Not bad when even a mishap can result in a profit. Auric Goldfinger would be proud.

it's me.

Censorship behavior

About the new USA Bette Davis postage stamp,it's a photo from ALL ABOUT EVE, and if you staring at it for a while you realize there is something wrong. She has a gloved hand raised beneath her chin in a very awkward pose. They removed a cigarette from her fingers! Censorship from Uncle Sam! Didn't they think anyone would notice? Film historians should revolt!

Lo Svarione degli Anelli

www.clistere.org

In memory : Paul Newman 1925-2008

Otto Preminger & Saul Bass

If any one person can be credited with having introduced the idea of "high concept"—the single striking image or pithy phrase that immediately sums up a creative work—to the movie industry, it would have to be Saul Bass. Not that the term existed when Bass, then known as one of America's brightest graphic designers, was called in to create the poster and title design for Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones. Bass preferred to talk in terms of Single Appropriate Image, in contrast to the then prevalent style of selling films, which he drily summed up as "the See! See! See! approach. See the missionaries boiled in oil, see the volcano destroy the island, see the virgins of the temple! The theory was that if you talked about a film in pieces, there would be something for everyone." Instead of crassly duplicating the function of the trailer, Bass saw his task as "finding a metaphor for the film, rather than an actuality from it."

The single image he created for Carmen Jones was a rose, in flames; taken with the title, that said it all. His design for Preminger's next film, The Man with the Golden Arm, was yet more audacious: the jagged diagram of an arm groping downward, contorted with agony. Like so many of Bass's concepts, it relied on the simplest and most effective style of design, a silhouette. Initially Preminger wanted a static image for the title sequence, but after "some towering discussions" Bass won his battle to animate the arm, making it jerk in torment to the rhythm of Elmer Bernstein's doomy, small-hours jazz score. Not for the last time, Bass's title sequence packed a more formidable punch than the movie that followed it. The prowling black alley cat that prefaced Walk on the Wild Side was so patently the best thing in the film that, once word got around, people would come to see the credit sequence, then get up and leave once the film started.

Knowing that nothing is more universally recognizable than stylized images of the human face or body, Bass drew on this primal source for some of his most memorable designs. The paper cut-out doll, suggesting at once childish innocence and the lethal sharpness of a blade, introduced the kidnap drama of Bunny Lake Is Missing. For Exodus, clenched fists grasping at a rifle: anger, desperation, revolt, revenge, all in one charged outline. A voluptuous pair of bare female thighs (in a style borrowed from Matisse) heralded the sophisticated sex comedy Such Good Friends. Bonjour Tristesse was evoked by a made-up face (a nod here to Picasso) decorated with a single fat tear. Most famous of all was the sectioned human body that suggested both a chalked forensic outline on the ground, and the title of the film: Anatomy of a Murder. So potent was the concept that it has been widely plagiarized ever since.

A look back at the Goldfinger credits sequence

The blonde is Margaret Nolan, a forgotten 1960s starlet. The man in silhouette is Robert Brownjohn, one of the most innovative, expensive and downright difficult art directors of the 60s - reports The Guardian.

Nolan is being filmed for the title sequence of Goldfinger (1964), the third James Bond film. She was painted gold from head to toe and images from the film were projected on to her body, creating a hallucinogenic effect that was ahead of its time. Brownjohn had succeeded in turning a title sequence - generally an afterthought - into high art. Had he not died in 1970 from a heart attack aged 44, he would have received greater credit for his innovation.

Robert "Bj" Brownjohn had already made a name for himself as a designer in 1950s New York when he arrived in London in 1960. He claimed that he came over for the city's creative energy. His girlfriend, the super-chic fashion designer Kiki Byrne, remembers it differently. "You could get heroin on the National Health back then," says Byrne. "And Bj did have a problem. But he was also terribly gifted, so he quickly established himself as one of the key figures during a very special period in history."

Brownjohn was at the heart of swinging London when he got the call from Albert "Cubby" Broccoli to design the title sequences for From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Having been given £850 for the first film, he demanded £5,000 for the second, a huge amount at the time. "We quoted £5,000 and it cost £5,000," remembers his assistant Trevor Bond. "You never made a profit on Bj." Byrne designed the bikini for Nolan.

Goldfinger was to prove a high point in Brownjohn's career. In 1968 he designed the sleeve for the Rolling Stones' album Let It Bleed, an unhappy experience that he illustrated by featuring a smashed wedding cake on the back cover. By this time, heavy drinking and drug use had taken over at the expense of output. He broke up with Byrne the following year, and soon he was living alone in a basement bedsit. But once, as his friend and fellow designer Alan Fletcher remembers, "Bj was the right man, in the right job, in the right place."

posing

BondCola

Nine - the musical

Academy Award nominated director Rob Marshall (Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) and The Weinstein Company are joining forces to bring the classic Broadway show Nine to the big screen. This marks the first time that Rob Marshall and Harvey Weinstein have collaborated since reviving the Hollywood musical with Chicago, winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Nine will be directed by Rob Marshall with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, composer and lyricist for the original 1982 Broadway production that won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and was written by Arthur Kopit. Marshall and John DeLuca (Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) will choreograph. A writer will be announced shortly. The joint announcement was made today by Rob Marshall and Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company.

LUCAMAR Productions partners DeLuca and Marshall will be on board as part of the producing team. The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to produce Nine from Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston who will each serve as co-executive producer.

Nine was initially adapted by Mario Fratti with the book written for the stage by Arthur Kopit. Throughout its successful runs on Broadway, Nine has attracted such legendary talent as Raúl Juliá, Antonio Banderas, Chita Rivera and Liliane Montevecchi.

"Inspired by Fellini's personal, painful, and beautiful film '8 1/2,'" Marshall said, "'Nine' is a sumptuous and emotional work that translates naturally to the film musical genre because of its seamless relationship between fantasy and reality." He added, "Finding another musical to bring to the screen has been quite a journey and I am thrilled that it's 'Nine.' Harvey and I are looking forward to working together again, and I am excited to be taking on this challenging and provocative piece."

Harvey Weinstein stated, "Rob and I have been looking for another musical to make together ever since 'Chicago' and I nearly fell over with excitement when he first suggested 'Nine.' It's a brilliant and timeless masterpiece, and no one can stage sexier or more dynamic numbers than Rob Marshall. Teaming up with him and the tremendous cast he's putting together, will be something we've never experienced before. After the truly sensational job he did with 'Chicago,' I cannot think of a better filmmaker to bring this daring story to the big screen."

Nine is a sultry and enchanting musical that follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini as he prepares his latest picture and balances the numerous women in his life including his wife, a producer, a mistress, a film star, and his deceased mother. The original 1982 Broadway production of Nine, nominated for twelve Tony Awards and winning five, including Best Musical, was directed by Tommy Tune, choreographed by Thommie Walsh, starred Raúl Juliá with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and book by Arthur Kopit. In 2003, the Broadway revival of Nine, starring Antonio Banderas, received eight Tony Award nominations and won two, including Best Revival of a Musical.

The film will feature an impressive cast up to now:

Nicole Kidman ... Claudia
Kate Hudson ... Stephanie
Daniel Day-Lewis ... Guido Contini
Penélope Cruz ... Carla
Judi Dench ... Liliane La Fleur
Marion Cotillard ... Luisa Contini
Stacy Ferguson ... Saraghina
Sophia Loren ... Mamma

on his way to come.....

Michael Madsen talks about meeting George Lazenby

Actor Michael Madsen, who played Falco in the 2002 James Bond film "Die Another Day" with Pierce Brosnan, spoke to Empire magazine about meeting a previous incarnation of 007 - Geroge Lazenby.

Empire: Who is the best james bond?

Madsen: Sean Connery, of course. I met Lazenby once. It was really bizarre. I was in an airport on the way to do Die Another Day and this old guy walks up and goes, "Hey, Michael, how are you doing?" Shakes my hand. "Love your work". I'm like, "thanks very much." He stood there staring at me. I felt very embarrassed because I thought "this guy knows me and I don't know him". Five seconds later,it was like "Holy shit! You're George Lazenby." And he was like, "YES I AM!". I said "Wow, I'm on my way to do a Bond film right now!" He goes "Put a word in for me, woudya? I think I should be a bond villain - don't you think I'd be a great villain?". I said "I'll mention it to Barbra (Broccoli)".

Empire: Did You?

Masden: No.

The Stepford Wives (1975)

Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) is a young wife who moves with her husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and two children from New York City to the idyllic Connecticut suburb of Stepford. Loneliness quickly sets in as Joanna, a mildly rebellious aspiring photographer, finds the women in town obsessed with housework and looking great, but with few intellectual interests. The men all belong to the clubbish Stepford Men's Association, which Walter joins to Joanna's dismay. Witnessing neighbor Carol Van Sant's (Nanette Newman) sexually submissive behavior to her husband Ted, as well as her odd, repetitive behavior after a car accident also strike Joanna as unusual.
Things start to look up when she makes friends with another newcomer to town, irrepressible Bobbie Markowe (Paula Prentiss). Along with glossy trophy wife Charmaine Wimperis (Tina Louise), they organize a women's liberation consciousness raising session, but the meeting is a failure when the other wives hijack the meeting with cleaning concerns. Joanna is also unimpressed by the boorish Men's Club members, including intimidating president Dale "Diz" Coba (Patrick O'Neal), who stealthily collect information on Joanna including her picture, her voice, and other personal details. When Charmaine turns overnight from a languid, self-concerned tennis fan into an industrious, devoted wife, Joanna and Bobbie start investigating, with ever-increasing concern, the reason behind the submissive and bland behavior of the other wives, especially when they learn they were once quite supportive of liberal social policies.
Spooked, Bobbie and Joanna start househunting in other towns, and later, Joanna wins a prestigious contract with a photo gallery with some photographs of their respective children. When she excitedly tells Bobbie her good news, Joanna is shocked to find her freewheeling and liberal friend has abruptly changed into another clean, presumably conservative housewife, with no intention to move from town.
Joanna panics and at the insistence of Walter, visits a psychiatrist who recommends she leave town until she feels safe. When Joanna returns home, the children are missing; Joanna and Walter get in to a physical scuffle. In an attempt to find her children, she hypothesizes Bobbie may be caring for them. When a desperate Joanna stabs Bobbie with a kitchen knife, Bobbie doesn't bleed or suffer, but instead goes into a loop of odd mechanical behaviour, thus revealing herself to be a robot.
Feeling she might be the next victim, Joanna sneaks into the mansion which houses the Men's Association to find her children, but chances upon the mastermind of the whole operation, Dale "Diz" Coba, and eventually her own robot-duplicate. It is then suggested that the Johanna-duplicate strangles the real Johanna; in the final scene, the duplicate is seen placidly purchasing groceries at the local supermarket, along with the other "wives."
The film was shot in a variety of towns in Western Connecticut, primarily in Westport and Fairfield. Tension developed between director Forbes and screenwriter Goldman over the casting of Nanette Newman (Forbes's wife) as one of the wives. Goldman had wanted the wives to be depicted as model-like women who dressed provocatively. But after casting Newman this was not to be, as Goldman stated he felt that Newman's physical appearance did not match the type of woman he imagined, and as a result this caused a change in appearance in costuming for all of the other wives. Goldman has said that he found Newman to be a perfectly good actress, however. Goldman was also unhappy with some rewrites that Forbes contributed. In particular, Forbes toned down Goldman's "horrorific" ending. Actor Masterson, who was friends with Goldman, would secretly call Goldman for his input on scenes creating additional stresses.
Forbes purposefully chose white and bright colors for the setting of the film, attempting to make a "thriller in sunlight". With the exception of the stormy night finale, the film is almost oversaturated with bright light and cheery settings. All the locations were actual places; no sets were built for the film. The film's tone is reminiscent of Levin's earlier work Rosemary's Baby, where it is unclear whether or not the film's protagonist is truly threatened or merely paranoid; in both cases, the films make the threat more concrete.

The Comedy of Terrors (1964)

The Comedy of Terrors (1964) is a American International Pictures comedy horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Joe E. Brown (in his final film appearance). The film also features Orangey the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat". It is a rare blend of comedy and horror, much in the vein of Universal Pictures's 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Set sometime in the Victorian era (in New England), the film tells of drunkard Trumbull (Vincent Price), an unscrupulous undertaker who murders people in their own homes in order to keep himself in business and to have enough money for more drink.

One night, after one failed attempt when the widow of his victim leaves without paying his fee, Trumbull and his lowly servant Gillie (Peter Lorre) decide to murder their landlord, Mr. Black (Basil Rathbone), who is said to have bouts of death-like sleep, which Trumbull and Gillie are unaware of.

Black seemingly dies of a heart attack from being frightened by Gillie, and Trumbull places the supposedly-deceased Black in his family crypt and returns home to celebrate his new-found wealth. However, Black awakes and returns to the funeral parlour, quoting random lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which he was reciting from a script at the time of his heart attack. Humorous events follow as Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the parlour before (finally) being killed after a lengthy monologue.

Gillie elopes with Trumbull's abused wife, who he has taken a shining for, and Trumbull is left a depressed heap on the floor. His father-in-law (Boris Karloff) appears after only a few short appearances throughout the film, and gives Trumbull some "medicine" that Trumbull was attempting to feed his father-in-law throughout the film. But the "medicine" turns out to be poison, and Trumbull drops dead by Black's side.

La più bella serata della mia vita (1972)

Many Ettore Scola's fans do not even know the existence of this gem is beyond me."La Piu' Bella Serata Della Mia Vita" has everything a movie buff demands: -A first-class screenplay,where ,at every minute,you can expect the unexpected.

-An incredibly extraordinary cast:think of it! Alberto Sordi,one of the luminaries of the brilliant Italian cinema,pit against the creme de la creme of French veterans :Pierre Brasseur,Charles Vanel and ,last but not least ,Michel Simon!A dream of a cast and Scola directs them in a masterful way.

"La Piu' Bella Serata" borrows elements from Agatha Christie's "And then there were none " -aka "ten little Indians" ,Claude Autant-Lara's "L'Auberge Rouge" -the endings are similar-, Julien Duvivier's "Marie -Octobre" or Robert Hossein's unfairly overlooked "Jeu de la Vérité".But all those elements,Scola makes them his very own ,and his movie has no cause to be jealous of those previous works."Piu Bella Serata" is arguably one of the finest Italian movies of the seventies.

Like Luigi Comencini's overlooked classic "Lo Scopone Scientifico " -where again Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano played opposite Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten-,this film is a fable.And you have got to pay attention to comprehend all the serious heavy things the director tells us.

These three retired magistrates want to carry on with their work:judging people is their idée fixe ,they are akin to Racine's central character in "Les Plaideurs"."We have already judged Joan of Ark,Dreyfuss and others " says Simon,but we do prefer judging people in the flesh!" The movie also deals with the skeletons in the closet:Sordi's character is not the goofy naive bon vivant he seems to be.Little by little,we discover he might be a monster (He would be one in Mario Monicelli's "I Nuovi Monstri" a brilliant film made of sketches,1978) The judges' desirable mansion in the Swiss mountains with its baroque decorations ,its hunting trophies (what a symbol) ,Janet Agren's luminous beauty (the perfect bait),add to an entrancing atmosphere.The movie runs the whole gamut: it' sometimes a hilarious comedy,sometimes a fantasy and horror gem (with accents of "the most dangerous game" ),sometimes a detective story,sometimes a melodrama (Sordi's childhood).

Expect the unexpected! Enjoy!

Another Way to Die

With Amy Winehouse long out of commission, Alicia Keys has signed on to lend her sultry, soulful pipes to the new theme song being readied for the upcoming James Bond installment, Quantum of Solace, by alt-rocker Jack White.

The male half of the White Stripes, who wrote and produced the tune, called "Another Way to Die," will also play drums. The film's soundtrack is due out Oct. 28, while the movie itself, the second 007 flick featuring hunky blond Bond Daniel Craig, hits theaters Nov. 7.

White and Keys' collaboration marks the first time a duo have tackled the Bond song, which hopefully will be more "Thunderball" (Tom Jones = suave and sophisticated) than "Die Another Day" (Madonna = Pierce Brosnan getting his ass kicked in a Korean prison).

The tradition of having a specialized theme harkens back to English cabaret star Matt Monro's treatment of the title song from 1963's From Russia With Love.

Hitmakers who have lent their vocals for the use of her majesty's secret service over the years include Paul McCartney and Wings ("Live and Let Die"), Carly Simon ("Nobody Does It Better" originated on The Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack), Sheena Easton ("For Your Eyes Only"), a-ha (the purveyors of "The Living Daylights" as well as '80s favorite "Take on Me"), Duran Duran ("A View to a Kill"), Gladys Knight ("License to Kill"), Tina Turner ("GoldenEye"), Garbage ("The World Is Not Enough") and, most recently, Chris Cornell, who crooned "You Know My Name" for Casino Royale.

U.K. pop stars Leona Lewis and Duffy were also rumored to be in contention for Quantum of Solace honors before the job was handed over to White and Keys, who are sure to add a certain "that sounds like a marimba!" je ne sais quoi to the 22nd Bond adventure.

Every SIMPSONS couch gag

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Anatomy of a Murder is an American 1959 trial court drama film directed by Otto Preminger and written by Wendell Mayes based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under the pen name Robert Traver. Traver based the novel on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defense attorney. The picture stars Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell, Eve Arden, Kathryn Grant, Orson Bean, and Murray Hamilton.
The movie, inspired by a 1952 Big Bay Lumberjack Tavern murder trial in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was adapted by Wendell Mayes from the novel by Robert Traver (pen name of John D. Voelker, a Michigan Supreme Court judge from 1957-1959).
It was filmed in Big Bay, Marquette, Ishpeming, and Michigamme, Michigan. Some scenes were actually filmed in the Thunder Bay Inn in Big Bay, Michigan, one block from the Lumberjack Tavern, the site of a murder that had inspired much of the novel. The murder occurred at Big Bay Point Light.
The movie was directed by Otto Preminger, and was noted for featuring unusually frank dialogue for 1959. It was among the first Hollywood films to challenge the Production Code, along with Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959) and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).
The role of the judge was offered to both Spencer Tracy and Burl Ives, but ultimately went to Joseph Welch, a real-life lawyer who had made a name for himself when representing the United States Army in hearings conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. It was Welch who famously asked of McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Twilight 's Last Gleaming (1977)

Twilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark. It is loosely based on the 1971 novel, Viper Three, by Walter Wager. It tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana, threatening to launch the missiles and start World War III unless the President, played by Charles Durning, reveals the real reason why America fought in the Vietnam War.
A split screen technique is used at several points in the movie to give the audience insight into the simultaneously occurring strands of the storyline.
The film's title, which functions on several levels, is taken from The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America:
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light / what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.



Loosely adapted from novelist Walter Wager's 1971 thriller, Viper Three, Twilight's Last Gleaming is Robert Aldrich's impassioned and provocative excoriation - and, perhaps implicitly, exorcism - of the American government's administrative Cold War policy that sought to wage a representative, small-scale, protracted ideological war in Vietnam in order to reinforce a "doctrine of credibility" to the (then) Soviet Union and world at large of the country's resolve and willingness to win war at all cost, even if the rules of engagement are reduced to levels of barbarity, untold casualty, mass murder, and human atrocity. Aldrich frames the country's deeply troubled moral conscience through an unlikely pair of world-weary idealists: a former military general and conscientious objector turned escaped convict named Larry Dell (Burt Lancaster) who, in his increasingly criticism of the war and volatile temperament, became a convenient target for government discreditation, and the newly elected president, David Stevens (Charles Durning) who, even in holding office in the aftermath of Vietnam, cannot escape its haunted, unreconciled legacy in his appointment of seasoned cabinet advisors who had weathered the political fallout (and dodged accountability) for the interminable war (Aldrich astutely assembles a cast of veteran actors including Joseph Cotton, Richard Widmark, and Melvyn Douglas to reflect the advisors' status as fossilized relics out of touch with the consequences and social reality of their ideological war game). Recently escaped from a correctional facility where he is serving time on a trumped up murder conviction, Dell enlists the aid of fellow convicts, musclemen Willis (Paul Winfield) and Augie (Burt Young), and trigger-happy safecracker, Hoxey (William Smith) in an elaborate plot to break into the nuclear silo of a military base, commandeer its ICBM missiles, and hold the government - and the world - hostage in exchange for a large sum of money, a safe passage on Air Force One, and above all, the full disclosure of a top secret transcript detailing the former administration's attempts to continue the Vietnam engagement despite already known inevitable consequences and the impossibility of victory as a means of deterrent by proving the country's willingness to use nuclear weapons in the event of an all out war under a policy of mutual assured destruction. In its bracingly contemporary and profoundly relevant exposition on the moral consequences of entrenched ideology and disconnected (and delusive) righteousness, Twilight's Last Gleaming articulates a sincere and elegiac plea for transparency in government and empowerment of the people - a sobering vigil for the restoration of the dignity of political service and the dying ideals of a once great civilization that, in the myopic intoxication of power, has lost its way.

FRED ASTAIRE DANCING WITH PROPS

TheDarkKnight: July2008

Sir Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel are set to star in the ITV remake of the 1960s TV cult show The Prisoner.
Sir Ian will play the sinister Number Two who controls a mysterious place known as The Village.
Passion of the Christ star Caviezel takes the role of Number Six, who finds himself trapped there, with no memory of how he arrived.
It is understood that the six-part series will include scenes shot in Namibia and South Africa.
The original was famously filmed around the Italianate village of Portmeirion on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales.
Created, written and produced by Patrick McGoohan, the 1960s series was a riff on Cold War politics.
The remake, which is due to premiere in 2009, will reflect 21st century concerns and anxieties such as liberty, security and surveillance.
Sir Ian has called it "an enthralling commentary on modern culture."
"It is witty, intelligent and disturbing. I am very excited to be involved," he added.
Writer Bill Gallagher, who watched the original series when he was a boy, said: "Here was something that was more than television, something I couldn't quite grasp but couldn't let go of.
"It's a unique opportunity for a writer to be able to go back to The Village and tell some new stories about that strange place and its surreal menace.
"We hope to serve up something as beguiling and disturbing as the original was."
Producer Trevor Hopkins says fans of the old series will not be disappointed.
He said: "Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen bring an incredible level of talent to the project, and we're honoured they are taking on these important roles."
ITV have not yet revealed whether the production will return to Wales.

THE FLY: A SCI-FI LOVE STORY
The Fly is an engrossing exploration of the physical and psychological transformation in which a brilliant scientist begins to mutate into a hybrid of man and fly after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong. Researcher Seth Brundle makes a stunning breakthrough in the field of matter transportation when he successfully teleports a living creature. Frustrated in his budding romance with a scientific journalist, and in need of a human subject, he recklessly attempts to teleport himself. An unseen fly enters the transmission booth as well, however, and Brundle soon realizes that his experiment has had "mixed" results.


An award-winning dream team of composer Howard Shore, director David Cronenberg, and playwright David Henry Hwang makes an intriguing LA Opera debut bringing a cult classic to life.

Plácido Domingo conducts the U.S. premiere of the LA Opera-commissioned opera written by Oscar®-winning composer Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings) based on the original 1957 George Langelaan short story as well as David Cronenberg’s 1986 film, with a libretto by the Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly). This marks not only the operatic debut of the film director, but also the LA Opera debut of the celebrated Academy Award-winning designer Dante Ferretti (The Aviator, Sweeney Todd).

Time magazine described The Fly as "a profound parable on love and loss." In its metamorphosis into an opera, this dark romantic tragedy presents a Kafkaesque meditation on man's uneasy relationship with technology. As the doomed scientist Seth Brundle and his girlfriend Veronica Quaife, Daniel Okulitch and Ruxandra Donose will be making their LA Opera debuts. Kurt Streit plays the part of Veronica's editor and former lover, Stathis Borans.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE teaser trailer

Happy birthday Lena!

Lena Horne turns 91

Murder by Death (1976)

Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy movie written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore. The plot is a spoof of the traditional country house whodunit, familiar to mystery fiction fans from classics such as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, a form also parodied for the stage in Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound. The cast is an ensemble of British and American comic stars playing send-ups of well-known fictional sleuths, and also features a rare performance by In Cold Blood author Truman Capote. The film was presented at the Venice International Film Festival, in 1976.

The plot takes place in and around the isolated country home inhabited by eccentric multi-millionaire Lionel Twain (Capote), his blind butler, Jamesir Bensonmum (Alec Guinness), and a deaf and mute maid called Yetta (Nancy Walker). As the movie opens, our heroes, all pastiches of famous detectives, are approaching the house through dense, fog-bound forest, accompanied by their assistants or sidekicks; it emerges that they have been invited to "dinner and a murder" over a weekend at Twain's mansion.

Inspector Sidney Wang, played by Peter Sellers, is based on Charlie Chan, and appropriately accompanied by his adopted, Japanese son Willie (Richard Narita). Wang wears elaborate Chinese costumes, and his grammar is frequently criticized by the host.

Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith) are polished, sophisticated society types modeled on Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man series of films. Their excellent breeding gets them out of a few scrapes during the course of the weekend.

Milo Perrier (James Coco) is a take on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, and arrives at the house with his chauffeur, Marcel Cassette (James Cromwell in his first feature film role). The portly Perrier is overly fond of food and appears annoyed that he must share a room with lowly Marcel, but is seen sharing his bed in one of the last scenes of the film. He is repeatedly annoyed by being mistaken for a Frenchman, as he is Belgian.

Sam Diamond represents the hard-boiled, American-style detective, a pastiche based on The Maltese Falcon's Sam Spade and Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Played by Peter Falk, he is ably assisted by Eileen Brennan as his tough but loyal secretary, Tess Skeffington.

Christie's other great creation, Miss Marple, appears here as Jessica Marbles, played by Elsa Lanchester as a hearty, tweed-clad Englishwoman, with a frail, seemingly gaga companion, her ancient "nurse" Miss Withers (played by Estelle Winwood, over 90 years old at the time), for whom she is now caring. Ironically, in real life, the two English-born actresses did not care for each other and exchanged mordant, biting insults.

The plot combines a convoluted, highly improbable murder-mystery arc with plenty of farce, slapstick, witty banter, and self-referential humour. Having lured his guests to his mansion (the address of which is given as "2-2 Twain"), Twain announces that, as a test of their sleuthing prowess, they are expected to solve a murder which will take place in the house at midnight that very night, with a reward of $1 million to the winner. The time comes and everything seems fine, until they discover that Twain himself has been murdered. The party spends the rest of the weekend investigating, dining, and bickering, manipulated by a mysterious behind-the-scenes force, confused by red herrings, baffled by the "mechanical marvel" that is Twain's house, and ultimately finding their own lives threatened. The ending piles on twist after twist as each sleuth presents his or her theory on the case.

After a brutal night where one pair is almost killed by a snake, another by a scorpion, another by a falling ceiling, a fourth by poison gas and the fifth by a bomb, they all collect in the office where the butler — believed to have been murdered earlier — is sitting behind the desk very much alive. Each detective has a different idea to who the real murderer is. However, the man sitting behind the desk has another surprise. He pulls off his mask to reveal he is Lionel Twain, the first victim. He takes a dig at detective stories for introducing crucial characters at the last minute for the traditional "twist in the tale", something which the assembled detectives had been doing a few minutes earlier. None of the detectives walk away with the million dollars for they were all wrong.

After the guests leave, Twain pulls off another mask, revealing "himself" to be Yetta, the deaf cook. It is not clear whether any murder has actually taken place. In the last spoken line of the movie, Sydney Wang, when asked if there was a murder or not, replies "Yes; killed good weekend!"

TRIVIA:

This movie marked the film debut of James Cromwell.

Orson Welles was originally considered for the role of Inspector Wang but was unable to accept because he was appearing in a play in Italy.

'Neil Simon' remained on the set to take care of re-writes, as he did with this picture's sequel, The Cheap Detective (1978). Simon took such a shine to Alec Guinness during the picture's production that he told him if he did not like anything in the film, he'd immediately rewrite it for him, but Guinness assured him it was great fun for him.

Myrna Loy was originally offered the part of Dora Charleston (a role that was a spoof of the character that she had played in the Thin Man movies) but she wisely declined, later stating that "it would have been ridiculous to have Myrna Loy doing Myrna Loy". She also stated that she didn't want her "ass pinched by David Niven".

During the first scene when Alec Guinness licks the stamps for the invitations, the stamps used were the 8 cent Dwight D. Eisenhower "No Dot", three-color stamps released in May 1971 and not the more popular 6 cent stamp released nearly a year earlier. First-class postage stamps were up to 13 cents by the time the movie was produced.

It was while working on this film that Alec Guinness received the script for Star Wars (1977). He read it between scenes in his dressing room.

All of the detectives in the film are parodies of the work of three authors: Dashiell Hammett, whose Nick Charles and Sam Spade were the basis for Dick Charleston and Sam Diamond, respectively; Agatha Christie, whose Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple inspired Milo Perrier and Miss Marbles; Earl Derr Biggers Charlie Chan was the basis for Inspector Sidney Wang and his son.

Immediately after completing the film, Peter Sellers was so convinced it was going to bomb, he convinced the producers to buy back his percentage share in the movie, thus depriving himself of a cut of the profits with the film when it went on to be a hit.

The screaming woman sound used as a doorbell is Fay Wray's screams from King Kong (1933).

Originally Katharine Hepburn was meant to play a character called Dame Abigail Christian (a spin on Agatha Christie). Hepburn dropped out after hearing Myrna Loy would not do the film. The character was changed to Dame Abigail Christmas, and Estelle Winwood took the role. After numerous re-writes Estelle became Nurse Withers to a new character, Elsa Lanchester's Miss Jessica Marbles.

Estelle Winwood's last movie.

Nancy Walker's last movie.

An interview with writer 'Neil Simon' in a DVD extra Murder by Death: A Conversation with Neil Simon (1999) (V) has him reveal that he and director Robert Moore at one time wished to replace Truman Capote with a real actor in the part of Lionel Twain but ultimately this never eventuated.

Three memorable scenes from this movie ended up on the cutting-room floor: 1) The Charlestons narrowly avoid hitting Tess Skeffington; she's hiking back to her and Sam Diamond's car, with gasoline from a station five miles away. "Thank Heaven you saw me when you did," she says. Dick makes sure she's okay - "Keep to the side of the road," he advises her - then simply drives off and leaves her to walk. 2) Willie Wang - upon rejoining the others in the drawing room, after covering up Lionel Twain's corpse in the dining hall - has noticed something that none of the others did: Twain was clutching a note in his hand. Without bothering to read the note first, Willie gloats about how he is a better detective than his own father gives him credit for: "I'm sick and tired of being just your #3 adopted son. The $1 million goes to whoever solves the crime, and that could be me just as well as you!" Then Sam takes the note at gunpoint ("Better stand back, Tess; I don't want you to get hurt when the bullet comes out his other ear") and reads it ("'Please call dairy and stop deliveries of milk; Lionel Twain deceased.' So much for your clue, kid"). Willie sheepishly apologizes to Sidney. 3) Leaving Twain Manor at the end of the movie, the Wangs pass a vintage car en route to the same destination. It's driven by Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. They ask directions, which Sidney gives them despite Willie's efforts to warn them it's a ripoff. Willie asks why his pop didn't tell them the truth. Sidney's reply: "Let idiots find out for themselves."

Peter Sellers also played a taxi driver, but the scene was deleted.

Home at last - part 2 - the first draft

In memory: Cyd Charisse 1921-2008

"When we were dancing,
we didn't know what time it was."
Fred Astaire

Ken Adam Designs The Movies, James Bond and Beyond - by Sir Ken Adam and Sir Christopher Frayling

Ken Adam is the most distinguished living production designer in the world. His work spans seven decades and more than seventy-five movies, from his revolutionary designs for the first seven James Bond movies to work on Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and Alan Bennett’s The Madness of King George, for both of which he won an Oscar.

Born in Germany, Adam trained in London as an architect, and his first Art Director credit was on Around the World in Eighty Days in 1956. He has subsequently worked in Hollywood, Italy, and Germany as well as Britain
Ken Adam’s extensive personal archive of concept sketches, drawings, set stills, and photographs from every stage of his career forms the basis of this book. Using case studies from the 1950s to the present day, it shows the whole cycle of his production designs, from initial concept to what appears on the screen itself. The result encapsulates the evolving role of the Art Director and Production Designer from the golden age of the big studios to the digital fantasies of the early twenty-first century.

The commentary is by Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, London, Chairman of the Arts Council, England, Chairman of the UK’s Design Council, and a Trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Datastream
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 224
Illustrations: 250; 180 in colour
Size: 13" x 9"
R.R.P: £32 / $65
Released: 29th September 2008 (UK) / 27th November 2008 (USA)
Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Beijing Tibetan Games

Technical infos

From MI6:
A new gyroscopic POV camera mount is making its big-screen debut in the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Called the Snakehead, the new camera system from SpaceCam Systems (Los Angeles), specialists in aerial and specialized gyro-stabilized cinematography, allows pilots to fly as aggressively as they dare without sacrificing the drama of the shot.
SpaceCam Systems had the system on set in the canyons of Baja, Mexico, in April for a month-long shoot and it performed extremely well, according to veteran aerial cinematographer Dwayne McClintock, who co-designed the system using 3D CAD software from company called SolidWorks. During filming, a Piper Aerostar 700 with Snakeheads on the nose and tail captured two planes in an aerial chase sequence.
With a 360-degree remotely controlled spherical range of view, the patented Snakehead is a gyroscopically stabilized periscope, compatible with most HD cameras. The lens system maintains a level horizon at all times.
Traditional aerial cinematography approaches—for example, a fixed periscope on a Lear jet–can distract and sometimes sicken viewers by depicting a seemingly lurching horizon. If the filming plane needs to adopt the point of view of a chasing aircraft, Snakehead operators can turn off the stabilization to more accurately convey its maneuvers.
SpaceCam collaborated on the design with engineers at Ballista of Westlake Village, CA, which engineered the optics, also using SolidWorks CAD software.
SpaceCam Systems offers a variety of camera options, including 35mm 4-perf, 35mm 8-perf, 65mm 5-perf, 65mm 15-perf, and numerous HD cameras

Dino Risi : 1917-2008

Vacanze col gangster (Italia, 1951)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ennio De Concini, interpreti principali: Terence Hill, Marc Lawrence, Lamberto Maggiorani, Bud Spencer

Viale della speranza (Italia, 1952)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ettore Maria Margadonna, Gino De Santis, Franco Cannarosso, interpreti principali: Lilliana Bonfatti, Maria Pia Casilio, Cosetta Greco, Silvio Bagolini

Paradiso per quattro ore – Episodio di “Amore in città” (Italia, 1953)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Cesare Zavattini, Aldo Buzzi, Luigi Malerba, Tullio Pinelli, Vittorio Veltroni, Marco Ferreri, interpreti principali: vari

Il segno di Venere (Italia, 1954)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ennio Flajano, Valeri, Cesare Zavattini, interpreti principali: Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, Alberto Sordi, Peppino De Filippo

Pane, amore e… (Italia, 1955)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ettore Maria Margadonna, Marcello Girosi, Vincenzo Talarico, interpreti principali: Antonio Cifariello, Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, Lea Padovani

Poveri ma belli (Italia, 1956)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, interpreti principali: Maurizio Arena, Renato Salvatori, Marisa Allasio, Mario Ambrosino

Belle ma povere (Italia, 1957)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, interpreti principali: Maurizio Arena, Renato Salvatori, Marisa Allasio, Lorella De Luca, Alessandra Panaro

La nonna Sabella (Italia, 1957)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, Ettore Giannini, interpreti principali: Peppino De Filippo, Sylva Koscina, Tina Pica, Mario Ambrosino

Poveri Milionari (Italia, 1958)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, interpreti principali: Maurizio Arena, Renato Salvatori, Alessandra Panaro, Lorella De Luca

Venezia, la luna e tu (Italia, 1958)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, interpreti principali: Alberto Sordi, Nino Manfredi, Marisa Allasio, Riccardo Garrone

Il mattatore (Italia, 1959)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Etttore Scola, Alessandro Continenza, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Armando Annuale, Gianni Baghino, Peppino De Filippo

Il vedovo (Italia, 1959)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Fabio Carpi, Rodolfo Sonego, interpreti principali: Alberto Sordi, Franca Valeri, Nando Bruno, Ignazio Leone

Un amore a Roma (Italia, 1960)
Regia : Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Ennio Flajano, Ercole Patti, interpreti principali: Mylene Demongeont, Vittorio De Sica, Peter Baldwin, Umberto Orsini

A porte chiuse (Italia, 1961)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Marcello Coscia, Dino De Palma, Sandro Continenza, interpreti principali: Vittorio Caprioli, Anita Ekberg, Fred Clark, Claudio Gora

Una vita difficile (Italia, 1961)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Rodolfo Sonego, interpreti principali: Franco Fabrizi, Claudio Gora, Alberto Sordi, Lea Massari

La marcia su Roma (Italia, 1962)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Giampiero Albertini, Nando Angelini

Il sorpasso (Italia, 1962)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ettore Scola, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak, Jean Louis Trintignant, Nando Angelini

Il giovedì (Italia, 1963)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Castellano, Pipolo, interpreti principali: Walter Chiari, Michelle, Mercier, Roberto Ciccolini, Silvio Bagolini

I mostri (Italia, 1963)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Sal Borghese, Lando Buzzanca

Il successo (Italia, 1963)
Regia: Dino Risi, Mauro Morassi, sceneggiatura: Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Anouk Aimee, Vittorio Gassman, Jean Louis Trintignant, Armando Bandini

La telefonata – Episodio de “Le bambole” (Francia/Italia, 1964)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Rodolfo Sonego, interpreti principali: Nino Manfredi, Virna Lisi, Alicia Brandet

Il Gaucho (Italia, 1964)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Tullio Pinelli, Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Amedeo Nazzari, Silvana Pampanini, Nando Angelini

Una giornata decisiva – Episodio de “I complessi” (Francia/Italia, 1965)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Marcello Fondato, Ettore Scola, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Nino Manfredi, Riccardo Garrone, Ilaria Occhini, Umberto D’Orsi

L’ombrellone (Francia/Italia, 1965)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ennio De Concini, intepreti principali: Sandra Milo, Enrico Maria Salerno, Leopoldo Trieste, Jean Sorel

Il marito di Attilia – Episodio de “I nostri mariti” (Francia/Italia, 1966)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, Stefano Strucchi, interpreti principali: Ugo Tognazzi, Liana Orfei, Giulio Rinaldi, Carlo Pisacane

Operazione San Gennaro (Italia, 1966)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Nino Manfredi, Ennio De Concini, interpreti principali: Nino Manfredi, Totò, Mario Adorf, Pinuccio Ardia

Straziami, ma di baci saziami (Italia, 1966)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, interpreti principali: Nino Manfredi, Pamela Tiffin, Ugo Tognazzi, Gigi Ballista

Il profeta (Italia, 1967)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Oreste Lionello, Ann Margret, Fiorenzo Fiorentini

Il tigre (Italia, 1967)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Ann Margret, Eleanor Parker, Caterina boratto

Il giovane normale (Italia, 1969)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Maurizio Costanzo, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Janet Agren, Lino Capolicchio, Jeff Morrow, Umberto D’Orsi

Vedo Nudo (Italia, 1969)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Iaia Fiastri, Ruggero Maccari. Interpreti principali: Nino Manfredi, Sylva Koscina, Nino Manfredi, Enrico Maria Salerno, Umberto D’Orsi

La moglie del prete (Italia, 1970)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Ruggero Maccari, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Venantino Venantini, Gino Cavalieri

In nome del popolo italiano (Italia, 1971)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, interpreti principali: Agostina Belli, Yvonne Furneaux, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi

Noi donne siamo fatte così (Italia, 1971)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, Rodolfo Sonego, Ettore Scola, interpreti principali: Monica Vitti, Clara Colosimo, Filippo De Gara, Pupo De Luca

Mordi e fuggi (Italia, 1972)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ruggero Maccari, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Gianni Agus, Carole Andrè, Bruno Cirino, Nicoletta Machiavelli

Sessomatto (Italia, 1973)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Laura Antonelli, Giancarlo Giannini, Paola Borboni, Duilio De Prete

Profumo di donna (Italia, 1974)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Alessandro Momo, Agostina Belli, Moira Orfei

Anima persa (Francia/Italia, 1976)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Deneuve, Danilo Mattei, Ester Carloni

La stanza del vescovo (Italia, 1976)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Leo Benvenuti, Piero Chiara, Piero De Bernardi, interpreti principali: Ornella Muti, Ugo Tognazzi, Patrick Dewaere, Piero Mazzarella

Telefoni Bianchi (Italia, 1976)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ruggero Maccari, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Agostina Belli, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Cochi Ponzoni, Renato Pozzetto

I nuovi mostri (Italia, 1977)
Regia: Dino Risi, Ettore Scola, Mario Monicelli, Claudio Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, Ettore Scola, Bernardino Zapponi, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Ornella Muti, Alberto Sordi, Ugo Tognazzi

Primo amore (Italia, 1978)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Ruggero Maccari, interpreti principali: Ornella Muti, Ugo Tognazzi, Riccardo Billi, Caterina Boratto

Caro papà (Canada/Francia/Italia, 1979)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Marco Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Stefano Madia, Aurore Clement, Julien Guiomar

Roma – Episodio de “I seduttori della domenica” (Francia/Gran Bretagna/USA/Italia, 1980)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Age, Furio Scarpelli, interpreti principali: Ugo Tognazzi, Lino Ventura, Sylva Koscina, Rossana Podestà

Sono fotogenico (Italia, 1980)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Marco Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Edwige Fenech, Renato Pozzetto, Ugo Tognazzi, Vittorio Gassman

Fantasma d’amore (Francia/Italia, 1981)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Marcello Mastroianni, Romy Schneider, Victoria Zinny, Michael Kroecher

Sesso e volentieri (Italia, 1982)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Enrico Vanzina, Bernardino Zapponi, Laura Antonelli, Giuliana Calandra, Johnny Dorelli, Gloria Guida

Dagobert (Francia/Italia, 1984)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Age, Gerard Brach, interpreti principali: Carol Bouquet, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Michel Lonsdale

Scemo di Guerra (Francia/Italia, 1985)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Age, Furio Scarpelli, interpreti principali: Beppe Grillo, Fabio Testi, Bernard Blier, Claudio Bisio

Il Commissario Lo Gatto (Italia, 1986)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Enrico Vanzina, Carlo Vanzina, interpreti principali: Lino Banfi, Galeazzo Benti, Maurizio Ferrini, Maurizio Micheli, Gianluigi Pizzetti

Teresa (Italia, 1987)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, Graziano Diana, interpreti principali: Luca Barbareschi, Serena Grandi, Pupo De Luca, Eros Pagni

Tolgo il disturbo (Italia, 1989)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Bernardino zapponi, Enrico Oldoini, interrpeti principali: Vittorio Gassman, Elliott Gould, Dominique Sanda, Valentina Holtkamp

Giovani e belli (Italia, 1996)
Regia: Dino Risi, sceneggiatura: Dino Risi, Bernardino Zapponi, interpreti principali: Anna Falchi, Edoardo Scatà, Luca Venantini, Carla Cassola

mashrooms

Hitchcock's Vertigo- 50 years anniversary

Vertigo is one of Hitchcock's most complex movies. On the surface there is a great story that is full of wonderful details, but if we want to go deeper we find out that the movie works in many levels and that it is both psychological and philosophical. It is interesting that Hitchcock almost "hides" this complexity with his style. When we start analyzing Vertigo, we actually discover that every shot has a meaning and a purpose. However, his form is never distracting, and in some wonderful scenes, his camera angle or editing almost seems "simple" and ordinary. Thus, the main focus point is always the story itself.
The story is about someone who feels a very strong obsession towards the past. He feels he has lost the "perfect past" and wants to recreate it. In this paper, I will argue that the idea of the "lost past" and of the "urge to recreate it" is a recurring theme of Vertigo. Some of these instances deepen our understanding of how past can affect a person, and some just reflect Scottie's feelings. I will also briefly discuss the philosophical meanings found in this aspect of the film.


The film clearly has two parts. They can be separated as the events that take place before Madeleine's fictional death and the ones that take place afterwards. In the first part of Vertigo, Scottie falls in love, but at the object of his affection is "dead". All through the second part, he tries to recreate the "beautiful past" again. Especially in the scene in Ransohoff's where he wants to buy her some dresses, his movements are obsessive, his stare very direct. In the movie, it is the first time we see him so sure of what he wants. The scene where Judy comes back to the hotel room after making her hair like Madeleine is also very similar. First, we see Scottie's point-of-view shot looking outside the window and watching Judy (with blonde hair) coming, then he goes out of the room and starts to look at the empty corridor (again point-of-view). The long take of the empty corridor gradually increases our suspense, as we are just as much as curious and excited as Scottie. The scene thus expresses his desire and impatience of recreating the past by making us identify with his emotions.


When she finally comes, he realizes that her hair does not exactly look like Madeleine's. This small detail is sufficient to disappoint him because what he really wants is the "past" itself. Any reproduction of it will not be enough. Of course, it is an illusion, as everything that he will make her do will have to be a reproduction and nothing else. He only is satisfied when she exactly looks like Madeleine. We see his eyes literally shining (by the lighting) with desire and passion. Hitchcock emphasizes the fact that Scottie is creating himself an illusion by using the green light coming from outside. Judy looks lost in the green as if we were not sure whether she was real or not. We understand that Scottie is actually disconnected from the reality of the present and he is lost in his illusion that he created the "perfect woman" who, he thinks, is dead. In this scene, Hitchcock suggests that bringing back the past in its entirety and its reality is impossible.
Then Scottie takes Judy in his arms. The camera moves around them, stylistically reminding us of his acrophobia (I will mention this later.), then the background becomes the stable of San Juan Bautista, the place where Madeleine was dead. Hitchcock thus implies that in Scottie's mind she has been resurrected. However, because of the effects of the previous "green light shots", we know that she actually is not.


Scottie's obsession of recomposing the past is never over. Just as he achieves the change he wants in Judy, he discovers that she is the same person as Madeleine. Only then can he understand that the "perfect" past that he had in his mind was just an illusion. It was just a fictional reality created by Gavin Elster. Thus, he is actually cured from his "melancholia" and he is no more in love with that woman. Now, he is only obsessed with facing the truth and taking revenge by making Judy face it as well. For example, in the last scene of the movie, at the top of the bell tower, his look is not the look of a lover, but a look of someone who is full of hatred. The dark lighting of his face also emphasizes the dark size of Scottie that comes to the surface at that point. Also, his last line in the movie is: "Too late… too late... there's no bringing her back." He has totally lost his internal ideal.


Moreover, Madeleine's imaginary obsession toward Carlotta Valdes is not only a plot element that helps Hitchcock constructs his story, but also makes us think about the limits of being affected by the past. As we do not know the reality (as Scottie), we are forced to think whether "…someone out of the past, someone dead, can enter and take possession of a human being?" as Gavin puts it. With Scottie, we are questioning ourselves about the reality and reasons behind Madeleine's acts. "How much can the past affect the present?" or "How much of our present life is based on our memories from the past?" are the types of questions we are forced to raise while we are following Madeleine with Scottie. In the movie, there are long scenes just showing his car following hers. By making all those long scenes without any apparent reason Hitchcock makes us think about the hero's emotional state and ask all those questions. They are also a metaphor for Scottie's state of mind. He does not know where he is going; he does not know where everything is going to lead him. There is no predetermined destination, there is only wandering, which symbolizes the search for truth. Is Madeleine mad or not? And who is she, really?


Moreover, Carlotta's story reflects the life of an important person in the film who we see only once: Gavin's wife. As the historian Leibel tells us, Carlotta was a woman loved by her husband and then "thrown away". It is interesting to notice that Gavin's wife is also literally "thrown away" by her husband. This connection brings us to another nostalgic element in the film: the idea of San Francisco as a city that symbolized the freedom for man in the past and that has now changed. Leibel later adds: "Men could do that in those days. They had the power… and the freedom." Similarly, Gavin Elster is still the man who has "the power", as opposed to Scottie who is not even able to have a normal relationship with a woman. He often repeats that he is a "man of independent means", as if he wants to prove it to himself.
The decor in the bookshop conveys a feeling of nostalgia from the very beginning. There are not only some old maps of San Francisco and some prints, but also some antique objects. One interesting thing to be noticed is the poster of the outlaw who is wanted. This can be related to Scottie's feeling of guilt for letting someone die, and also the fact that Gavin is going to end up being just like that outlaw. I already mentioned that he is also parallel to Carlotta's husband. Therefore, Hitchcock describes an important character of the movie without even showing him.
The idea of old San Francisco is also mentioned in the scene where Scottie is in Gavin's bureau. Again on the walls, there are some old pictures and drawings of old San Francisco. Gavin says: "San Francisco's changed. The things that spell San Francisco to me are disappearing fast. I'd like to have lived here then. The color and excitement…the power… the freedom." He obviously envies Carlotta's husband who could easily throw his wife away. The difference between the "manhood" of the two men is also underlined by the mise-en-scene in Gavin's office. Although Scottie sits as if he was unconfident (the plot gives his physical disability as a reason to that), his friend seems very relaxed and very sure of himself.
The recurring of the same idea of "gay, old bohemian days of gay, old San Francisco", as Midge puts it, deepens the feeling of nostalgia and the idea of "lost, perfect" past. In the beginning, in the scene where Scottie and Midge have a long chat, we understand that Midge is still in love with Scottie. She even says: "You know there is only one man for me in the world, Johnny-O." Then we learn that they were engaged once and that she "blew" it. Her look and emotions that she is trying to hide, which is also stressed by Hitchcock who uses two close-ups, tells that she really is nostalgic about that. Parallel to the other characters in the film, she too thinks that she found the happiness in the past, and cannot find it anymore.

It is interesting to see that although the main story is only about a past lived in the first part of the movie, many elements force us to go much earlier. I already mentioned the idea of "gay, old San Francisco", Midge's nostalgia and Madeleine's obsession toward Carlotta.
There are also other examples that follow this formula, such as Scottie's acrophobia. From their conversation with Midge, we learn that he had it before the cop fell from the rooftop. In his dream, we see the idea of Vertigo blending in his uneasiness with the past. The Scottie's fall dissolves to Madeleine's spiral hair and the image of Scottie shouting is superimposed to Carlotta's grave. Hitchcock thus implies that they are parallel feelings and in Vertigo, they are interconnected. The connection is also expressed by some formal elements recurring throughout the film. For example, the turning circle is a motif that forces us to make this connection. First, in the two animated sequences (the credit titles and the dream), there are rotating circles, which actually symbolize Scottie's acrophobia. Then, Madeleine's spiral hairstyle that is the same as Carlotta's in the portrait reminds us those circles, as does the flowers she bought. When he realizes that the Madeleine's hairstyle and her flowers are the same as the ones in the portrait, two similar forward tracking-zoom shots express the parallelism between those. The stairs in the San Juan Bautista that are a symbol of his Vertigo are an example too. Lastly, the tracking camera movement around Judy and Scottie, which I already mentioned, reuses the motif. This interconnection between acrophobia and his preoccupation of the past raises the possibility that both of his problems may be related to the same psychological problem, dating back to his childhood. They may even be the results of the same fear, which is not the subject of this paper.
Another example is the scene in the forest. From the very beginning of the scene, there is a disturbing silence in the surroundings. Scottie says: "Only silence. It's always like this. No birds live here!" The silence and the lack of movement around them convey the idea of eternity in that scene. Hitchcock also emphasizes this by taking some middle-long shots of our heroes, showing how they seem unimportant compared to those huge trees that seem to be "ever-living" as Scottie puts it. Their voices seem to be coming from far away, which suggests that they are lost in this environment, symbolizing how Scottie is actually lost in the psychological sense. As I mentioned earlier, he is led by the events of the story, and never has the "power" to act on his own.
This scene is very different in many ways from the other scenes of Vertigo. It is the first time in the movie that time seems to stand still as if the past, the present and the future seem to unite in one point. It is therefore questioning what "the past" really means. I think Hitchcock suggests that the memory is only a human invention that has nothing to do with the nature. Those trees do not have anything to be nostalgic about or to remember although they are "ever-living". However, human beings force themselves (and because of their psychologies, are forced) to think about the concepts of past and future. Looking at the cut tree, Madeleine says: "I don't like them… knowing I have to die."

Vertigo covers a long time scale, starting from the growth of the trees and ending with the present. By putting in the center of the story a man who has a fixation to the past, and repeating, in many occasions, the difference of the past from the present, Hitchcock makes us think about our personal memories from our childhood (acrophobia) and our collective memories about the society (San Francisco). Nobody in Vertigo is able to deal with this problem: Scottie does not know the difference between illusion and reality; Midge is not mature enough to see that Scottie is not attracted to her anymore, the fictional Madeleine cannot live the present as someone dead takes over her life and Judy does not understand that Scottie only loved the puzzle of Madeleine. The only exception is Gavin Elster who at least achieves what he wants, although he knows it would be much easier a century ago.
Showing all those people struggling with their memories and their past, Hitchcock forces us to think about ourselves. He makes us ask questions such as "How much of my present life is the result of the past?" or "What are the ways of liberating ourselves from memory-obsessions?" Interestingly, despite all of this, he also reminds us that "past" is nothing but a creation of human mind and should not be given more importance than it deserves.

TheFall