Favorite Films (lists up to participating site members)

[Mayerling]

I guess I must have gotten Juliet Mills confused with some other actress who died from an acting family (Lynn Redgrave comes to mind, but she never was in a Columbo episode). Sorry for the error. Hope Hayley and Juliet are entertaining when in Australia.

Jeff

[Robert]

Hi Jeff

Re McGoohan, a few years ago he tried to return to the theatre, but found he just couldn't do it. I think it was stage fright.

He did however do a TV play, in which he played the part of GBS. It was to do with Shaw, some other guy, and a nun who had all written letters to each other for years. I think it was a series of monologues, each character speaking the text of their letters.

One of his best films was this one :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051713/

[Mayerling]

Hi Jeff

Re McGoohan, a few years ago he tried to return to the theatre, but found he just couldn't do it. I think it was stage fright.

He did however do a TV play, in which he played the part of GBS. It was to do with Shaw, some other guy, and a nun who had all written letters to each other for years. I think it was a series of monologues, each character speaking the text of their letters.

One of his best films was this one :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051713/

Hi Robert,

Definitely a good cast - with my favorite, Mr. Lom, as a good guy for a change (for another good guy role for Herbert, see his performance in the thriller "Return From the Ashes" with Maximillian Schell).

My favorite McGoohan part was as Edward I "Longshanks" in "Braveheart". One momentarily felt sorry for him when he had to try training his son and heir.

Jeff

[Robert]

Thanks Jeff.

Lom played a goodie in a TV series. It was called The Human Jungle, shown early 1960s in the UK. He played a psychiatrist who disentangles his patients' problems. The theme music is good, with Lom at the start of each episode entering his office and switching on a tape recorder (one of those old spool machines). He sits and listens to what is presumably a recording of an interview with a patient. As he listens, he puffs on a cigarette! Wouldn't be allowed today.

Interesting fact about McGoohan : he reputedly turned down the role of James Bond because he refused to carry a gun, but in the last episode of The Prisoner he blazes away with a machine gun.

[Mayerling]

Thanks Jeff.

Lom played a goodie in a TV series. It was called The Human Jungle, shown early 1960s in the UK. He played a psychiatrist who disentangles his patients' problems. The theme music is good, with Lom at the start of each episode entering his office and switching on a tape recorder (one of those old spool machines). He sits and listens to what is presumably a recording of an interview with a patient. As he listens, he puffs on a cigarette! Wouldn't be allowed today.

Interesting fact about McGoohan : he reputedly turned down the role of James Bond because he refused to carry a gun, but in the last episode of The Prisoner he blazes away with a machine gun.

Hi Robert,

One might even make a case (out of sympathy) that Herbert is even a good guy as the homicidal Chief Inspector Dreyfus, as dealing with Clouseau drives him to insanity (when Clouseau seems to be dead, Dreyfus calms down and behaves himself again).

As for McGoohan ending The Prisoner in a rain of machine gun fire - he has become an enemy of the secret service (or government division) that he worked for - which is why he was targeted and imprisoned in the village to begin with, so he has his reasons to turn to extreme violence against it. I don't think 007 ever turned against the British Secret Service. By the way, in his several appearances on "Columbo" he did not hesitate to kill people (once blowing one up with a cannon!).

Jeff

[Robert]

Hi Jeff

Maybe it was the casual gun violence that McGoohan objected to about Bond. After all, there's nothing casual about a cannon.

Decades ago Lom appeared on the radio show Desert Island Discs, and here is a list of his selections :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y7f0/segments

[Steadmund Brand]

Hello all, I watched a great documentary last night on Netflix streaming it's called " Ray Harryhausen : Special Effects Titan" it's a few years old now, from 2011 but fell under my radar until last night... was really fun, and brought back some wonderful childhood memories.. and really made you appreciate the talent and skill of a true master...Just thought I would pass that along as it seems like something most film fans would enjoy....

maybe we should start a thread on Documentaries about films... hmmm anyone want to start one or shall I on my next post?

Steadmund Brand

[Paddy Goose]

For special effects I liked Terminator II where the bad guy melted then came back together

[GUT]

For special effects I liked the movie FX.

[Steadmund Brand]

Well I guess I'll start a list of documentaries about Movies

I'll start with what got me thinking about this, I know I will be missing a bunch, but this is pretty much off the top of my head

1-Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
2-Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (13 part series)
3-Dangerous Days: Making of Blade Runner
4-Fellini: I'm A Born Liar
5-Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures
6-Carl Dreyer My Metier
7-Dad Made Dirty Movies (about Stephen Apostolof)
8-Le grand Meiles
9-The Battle Over Citizen Kane
10-RKO Production 601: the Making of Kong
11-Lon Chaney: a Thousand Faces
12-Universal Horror
13-Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows
14-Flying Saucers Over Hollywood (About Ed Wood and Plan 9 From Outer Space)
15-Behind the Planet of the Apes
16-Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror
17- The Wicker man Enigma
there are a couple great documentaries on Buster Keaton
18-So Funny It hurt: Buster Keaton and MGM
19-Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
also some fun ones on my favorites the Marx Brothers
20- Inside the Marx Brothers
21-Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
22-The Unknown Marx Brothers
23- Marx Brothers from Vaudeville to Hollywood
And I'll finish for now with some good Chaplin documentaries
24-Chaplinesque
25-Unknown Chaplin
26-Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Please feel free to add more or to comment on any of the ones I have mentioned

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

There was a marvelous series in 1980 from Thames Television narrated by James Mason called "Hollywood" about the birth of motion pictures up to 1929. Most of the episodes are on "You Tube" now. I watched one about a week ago.

Also : "The Man You Love to Hate" about the career of Eric von Stroheim.
Steadmund mentioned the series "Unknown Chaplin" and "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow". There was also a third one dealing with Harold Lloyd. Mason had narrated the first two, but had died before the Lloyd one was made, so Lindsay Anderson narrated it.

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

Ohhh the Man You Loved To Hate!!! great pic!!!!

the Lloyd one was Harold Lloyd the Third Genius correct... I hate to admit I have yet to see it..*hanging my head in shame*

I also should have mentioned the Lon Chaney Jr. documentary " Son of a Thousand Faces, was really good.. as was the doc that wa sa bonus Feature on the Wolf Man Legacy collection dvd ,Pure in Heart: the Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr., there was also a GREAT short documentary on that saet called He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce.. really worth checking out!!!

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

Ohhh the Man You Loved To Hate!!! great pic!!!!

the Lloyd one was Harold Lloyd the Third Genius correct... I hate to admit I have yet to see it..*hanging my head in shame*

I also should have mentioned the Lon Chaney Jr. documentary " Son of a Thousand Faces, was really good.. as was the doc that wa sa bonus Feature on the Wolf Man Legacy collection dvd ,Pure in Heart: the Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr., there was also a GREAT short documentary on that saet called He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce.. really worth checking out!!!

Steadmund Brand

Funny but there was no attempt to do one about Langdon. Possibly a lack of active interest out in the silent film societies.

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

There was a documentary made about Langdon... I knew I saw it few years back, but i had to look it up to remember what it was called, It's called
Harry Langdon: Lost and Found (1997), not bad, not great..Personally I never found Langdon very funny, same thing with Fatty Arbuckle....yeah I feel bad for the hatchet job done on him, but his films are just unfunny...again, just my opinion

there was also a good documentary on Max Linder, Max Linder: Man in the Silk Hat..that is worth checking out as well...

Steadmund Brand

[Mayerling]

There was a documentary made about Langdon... I knew I saw it few years back, but i had to look it up to remember what it was called, It's called
Harry Langdon: Lost and Found (1997), not bad, not great..Personally I never found Langdon very funny, same thing with Fatty Arbuckle....yeah I feel bad for the hatchet job done on him, but his films are just unfunny...again, just my opinion

there was also a good documentary on Max Linder, Max Linder: Man in the Silk Hat..that is worth checking out as well...

Steadmund Brand

I have seen the one on Linder. Ultimately a tragic story of a brilliant comic (whom Chaplin admired and imitated a little).

I agree about Langdon, but recently in looking at some of his films on "You Tube" I see there was something special (if whispy) in his characterization. Fatty is prone to too much violence (in part due to the influence of Mack Sennett), but he can demonstrate a willingness to be active in his comedies (which was all important in early Hollywood comedy, which was mostly slapstick). His duet film with Chaplin shows him at his best. And Keaton (whose career in film he helped launch) thought highly of him.