Friday, June 24, 2011
Love Over Hate (You Had to See the Movie)
Whenever the topic of film masterpieces comes up, the titles that usually get mentioned (deservedly so, frankly) are "The Godfather", "Casablanca", "Gone With the Wind", "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Graduate", "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Maltese Falcon", "On the Waterfront", "Schindler's List", "One Flew Over the Cucko's Nest", "Citizen Kane", "Sunset Boulevard", "Caddyshack" (alright, yes, I'm pulling your leg on that one), etc.. The one title that almost never gets mentioned is Charles Laughton's brilliant film, "The Night of the Hunter"..................................................................................................To say that Mr. Laughton pushed the envelope on this movie is an understatement. Shelley Winters's dead body floating at the bottom of the lake, the Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish characters (the villain and the heroine) singing that gospel song in harmony, all of those little kids singing the hangman song purely in an effort to torment, Lillian Gish marching back and forth with her shotgun - all of these things no doubt left the viewers a little uneasy. And, seriously, where in the hell did that performance from Bob Mitchum come from? I mean, yeah, the guy was a reliable leading man and all but, youza, this was the performance of a frigging lifetime (the "Academy's" snubbing of not just Mitchum but of the entire film was disgraceful, I thought)! It was a complete and total shame that this great movie fell through the cracks, IMHO.
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5 comments:
I only remember Shelly from some early 1960's sitcom but I caught her in a movie on TCM and she blew me away. She was a great actress, as for Bob Mitchum eveything you said was correct.
Another great Shelley Winters part, double b, was in "A Place in the Sun". Her, Montgomery Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor totally lit up the screen.
I have not seen this movie. You thinking it should have won an award does remind me of another post on your blog though... A post where you criticized a certain person because they voiced their opinion about how they thought someone deserved an honor they didn't get.
So, did the Academy "snub" this film, or are you having a conniption over a film you personally liked but in reality wasn't good enough not winning?
Perhaps this is just a case of Will Hart attempting to dumb down an important institution?
Mr. Olbermann gave his opinion on Santo. I gave my opinion of Mr. Olbermann's opinion. I'm not exactly sure what your issue is here.............As to your second "point", no, it isn't a case of "Will Hart dumbing down an important institution". The film is presently considered a masterpiece by MANY aficionados of classic films; including Robert Osborne, Ben Mankowitz, and Neil Gabler. It was just way too ahead of its time.
Will,his issue is....people come here and post on your blog....I think he has a blog that no one goes near,whats the word I'm looking for.....oh yea,envious...yea,thats it envious.
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