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Post by DE Sinclair on Jul 1, 2015 13:49:19 GMT -5
Also don't forget that Abbott & Costello met up with the Mummy too. It's not quite as good as the Frankenstein movie (but then what is?), but it's still pretty funny.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 1, 2015 13:52:12 GMT -5
Also don't forget that Abbott & Costello met up with the Mummy too. It's not quite as good as the Frankenstein movie (but then what is?), but it's still pretty funny. I'm not a huge fan of The Mummy seres, and even less so without Lon Chaney Jr. in the wrappings, but I'll likely check it out. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 1, 2015 15:56:41 GMT -5
Also don't forget that Abbott & Costello met up with the Mummy too. It's not quite as good as the Frankenstein movie (but then what is?), but it's still pretty funny. I'm not a huge fan of The Mummy seres, and even less so without Lon Chaney Jr. in the wrappings, but I'll likely check it out. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is fair to middling for a classic film, but it gets extra points for Marie Windsor. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 1, 2015 17:55:07 GMT -5
I love this theme!! And I agree about Abbot and Costello meet... those films are all awesome.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 3, 2015 12:16:26 GMT -5
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Universal, 1923 Directed by Wallace Worsley Starring Lon Chaney  This is a new one for me, I only picked it up on DVD a few weeks ago in preparation for Halloween and in watching it this morning I was pretty surprised that its praises aren't sung higher than they are. In addition to Chaney's awesome creature make up for Quasimodo which looked incredibly realistic I think we got one of his best performances as the titular hunchback as he brought not only a great feeling of humor and horror to the character but also a tremendous amount of pathos. And it wasn't just him, every one in this film was great, they all brought a real human feel to the film that made it seem very real...and it was all conveyed with out a single word.
While it lacks some of that classic horror feeling, playing more like a period piece film it was fantastic none the less. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 3, 2015 13:29:05 GMT -5
I'm planning to watch in chronological order, and that means I'll be starting with Hunchback too  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2015 15:32:48 GMT -5
thwhtguardian, Since you mentioned this movie, I seen this movie about 15 years ago and it has great human spirits, emotions, and spirit. It was wonderfully written by Perley Poore Sheehan (adaptation) and directed by Wallace Worsley. Patsy Ruth Miller who played Esmeralda - pictured below with Lon Chaney was fantastic.  Powerful Film and Wonderfully Made.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 4, 2015 12:03:39 GMT -5
I'm planning to watch in chronological order, and that means I'll be starting with Hunchback too It's one I've always read about but never actually seen until now and I'm glad I did, the sets are especially wonderful. You'll truly believe this was filmed in Paris. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 4, 2015 13:32:43 GMT -5
I'm planning to watch in chronological order, and that means I'll be starting with Hunchback too It's one I've always read about but never actually seen until now and I'm glad I did, the sets are especially wonderful. You'll truly believe this was filmed in Paris. I always love that part in the beginning where Cheney scales down the front wall of Norte Dame. It's filmed brilliantly to look like the whole building is really there. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 4, 2015 14:04:24 GMT -5
I also love and recommend the 1939 Hunchback with Charles Laughton. A sprawling, exciting epic, not really a horror film, but certainly worthy of inclusion with the Universal Frankensteins because of the depth and pathos achieved by Quasimodo. Laughton is brilliant as Quasimodo, artfully capturing the kind of sensitivity associated with similar characters like the Monster and the Elephant Man. Some of the acting is over the top (notably Edmund O'Brien in what I think may have been his first role), but this is a after all an epic film, with the emphasis on heightened emotion. It's fun to see Thomas Mitchell play a scoundrel, too. And I'm a sucker for Maureen O'Hara, too. The set is legendary: the cathedral facade is nearly 200 feet high, quite an achievement. But this was an RKO film and they were the guys who created Skull Island, remember. The storming of the cathedral is brutally violent and exciting to watch because of the excellent camera work. More than worthy of comparison with the Chaney version.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 4, 2015 14:17:31 GMT -5
thwhtguardian, Since you mentioned this movie, I seen this movie about 15 years ago and it has great human spirits, emotions, and spirit. It was wonderfully written by Perley Poore Sheehan (adaptation) and directed by Wallace Worsley. Patsy Ruth Miller who played Esmeralda - pictured below with Lon Chaney was fantastic. Powerful Film and Wonderfully Made. I was just about to mention Patsy Ruth Miller as a real stand-out.
But Chaney frequently got some great performances from his leading ladies. Look at Joan Crawford in The Unknown and Norman Shearer in He Who Gets Slapped. (Slapped is my favorite Lon Chaney film.)
Joan Crawford once said she learned more about acting from watching Chaney while making The Unknown than any other experience. Since I heard that, I always think of it when I watch a Joan Crawford movie because you can see what she's talking about. Not so much in something like Dancing Lady, but definitely in movies like Rain and Mildred Pierce and The Possessed.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 4, 2015 14:43:59 GMT -5
Hoosier, your mentioning Crawford in Mildred Pierce makes me hope that someday this thread will focus on the films of one of the greatest of all Hollywood directors, Michael Curtiz, who could and did do every type of film imaginable, and with panache.
Ask anyone to give a list of favorite movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, and there's a good chance at least one Curtiz movie will be on the list.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 4, 2015 15:37:29 GMT -5
Hoosier, your mentioning Crawford in Mildred Pierce makes me hope that someday this thread will focus on the films of one of the greatest of all Hollywood directors, Michael Curtiz, who could and did do every type of film imaginable, and with panache. Ask anyone to give a list of favorite movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, and there's a good chance at least one Curtiz movie will be on the list. Yeah, Michael Curtiz is amazing!
Here's a link to my "Films of Michael Curtiz" list at IMDB. Even some of the films you never heard of - like Front-Page Woman and The Walking Dead - are great.
Yankee Doodle Dandy is showing on TCM in a few hours! I hope that some of the people on this board who don't really like old musicals will give this one a chance. It's one of Jimmy Cagney's best, and it is very entertaining and frequently hilarious.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2015 16:06:14 GMT -5
Hoosier, your mentioning Crawford in Mildred Pierce makes me hope that someday this thread will focus on the films of one of the greatest of all Hollywood directors, Michael Curtiz, who could and did do every type of film imaginable, and with panache. Ask anyone to give a list of favorite movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, and there's a good chance at least one Curtiz movie will be on the list.
Yankee Doodle Dandy is showing on TCM in a few hours! I hope that some of the people on this board who don't really like old musicals will give this one a chance. It's one of Jimmy Cagney's best, and it is very entertaining and frequently hilarious.
You are right about Yankee Doodle Dandy and I have it on DVD and I do watch it one an annual basis. I was very surprised to see the wide range of talent that he has. He's quite an entertainer. I associated with him playing tough guys and he often do musicals and other genre and does it quite effortlessly. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 4, 2015 16:20:43 GMT -5
Yankee Doodle Dandy is showing on TCM in a few hours! I hope that some of the people on this board who don't really like old musicals will give this one a chance. It's one of Jimmy Cagney's best, and it is very entertaining and frequently hilarious.
You are right about Yankee Doodle Dandy and I have it on DVD and I do watch it one an annual basis. I was very surprised to see the wide range of talent that he has. He's quite an entertainer. I associated with him playing tough guys and he often do musicals and other genre and does it quite effortlessly. My favorite Cagney movie is Footlight Parade, one of the looniest movies ever made. Then probably Yankee Doodle Dandy. His best gangster movie is White Heat.
And don't forget A Midsummer's Night Dream, where he gets turned into a donkey! (And Mickey Rooney is Puck!)
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