Change Your Image
Molly-31
I'm a cranky old film & TV buff trying to mellow out.
Over the years I have been asked many times about my summary of the film Snowfire on IMDB. I don't have access to or knowledge of it other than what I wrote, but you can see it at Warner Archive Instant (http://instant.warnerarchive.com/product.html?productId=221695). There is a page about it on Turner Classic Movies, which shows it now and then. You're invited to join the Snowfire Revival Society at http://lists.topica.com/lists/snowfire/ . There is another Snowfire fan list on Yahoo Groups.
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Laura (1944)
Waldo gay? Not necessarily
It's fashionable to look at characters in old movies and decide who was supposed to be gay. However, Waldo may have had an even worse secret. That character was based closely on writer and critic Alexander Woolcott, who was not gay (although I'm sure plenty of people in his own time thought he was). His chronic bitterness and gall, vented regularly in his columns, was due to impotence, a sequellae of mumps in his late twenties. Harpo Marx, who probably knew him better than anyone, talks about this in his book. Woolcott gathered around him a large number of extremely attractive women, but wouldn't marry because it wouldn't be fair to the girl. Think about Waldo in this light. Like Woollcott, he's putting his energy into creative pursuits, including his Pygmalionish grooming of Laura. This could explain a lot more of what happened.
The Baileys of Balboa (1964)
I was in Balboa today!
I remember this show very well. I never missed it. I love Paul Ford. The episode I remember best was a Halloween special in which someone tried to scare them by dressing up like Dracula and swooping in to declare "I stopped by to borrow a cup of blood!" At the very end, the little boy from next door (played by Clint Howard, who went on to "Gentle Ben" and played a small (adult) alien in Star Trek's "The Corbomite Maneuver") showed up in his Dracula costume for Halloween and said "My mother sent me over to borrow a cup of -- SUGAR." I was very taken with Balboa and Newport Beach as they were shown on the program and I always wanted to go there. Well, today I did! I wouldn't mind living there myself except it's probably very expensive and I'd end up combing the beach for a living too.
Samson and Delilah (1949)
Lansbury & Lamarr as sisters?
Briefly, here's my rationale for Angela and Hedy playing sisters. Semidar and Delilah had different mothers. Their father may have had 2 wives (ok at that time) or his first wife could have died and then he remarried. By the way, Delilah isn't throwing small rocks at Samson, just plum pits. (And, apropos of nothing, in college I used to have an outfit exactly like the one she's wearing in that scene.)
Someone asked how they could weave such exquisite fabric back then; it was an art as well as a skill, and you see Wilcoxon showing off bolts of cloth including silk or cotton gauze at the beginning as part of his proposed bride price for Semidar. Delilah herself was a weaver according to the Bible (you see her loom in one scene after Samson breaks it) so you can imagine her making some of her own outfits.
With a great cast (even the bit players were good!) and exquisite cinematography, this is one of DeMille's best and should be out on DVD. Write to Paramount, and keep writing, after all the squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Kismet (1944)
Underrated gem
William Dieterle directing, music by Harold Arlen (there's even a tiny bit of the Witch's Guard music at one point!), opulent sets and gorgeous costumes, Ronald Colman -- what more could anyone ask?
The film was very carefully crafted. Even the bit players -- especially Henry Davenport and Florence Bates -- were perfect. From the beginning, you are immersed in a magical world, an Iraq that died long ago, the Islam of Arabian Nights and Haroun el-Raschid, a romantic culture with its own philosophies and mysteries. Karsha foretelling the future with a sand reading, the muezzin and his apprentice singing the call to prayer, or the public bathing place that the rascals hide in, give the film a sense not only of unity and atmosphere but of meticulous attention to detail.
Dietrich's character was not Greek but Macedonian (like Alexander the Great, another blonde). I could have stood for more authenticity in her dance (especially after the Kraft girls who preceded her -- their Deva Dasi style dance *was* pretty authentic) and that gold paint was a little much. Still, the idea was that Jamilla was wild, and did unconventional things.
I do see where it could have been better. Craig in particular sounds jarringly "modern". But you forget that after a while. Modern films don't present this kind of idealism. We have to have everything brought down to sordid reality. A thing like this is good for you after too much "realism" gunk.
Snowfire (1957)
Looking for Snowfire on video?
Sorry. Snowfire will not be released on video or DVD. This has to do with legalities and something to do with the family. I cannot give further details without permission (which I have asked for). Your best bet is to write to WGN and request that they show it, make tapes and circulate them. There is only one copy left. It is in a vault in Chicago and can be rented for something like $150 per showing.
If you are interested in talking to other fans of this film, contact the Snowfire Revival Society mailing list -- a Topica list, linked from the "miscellaneous" links on the left-hand side of the main page for Snowfire at IMDb.
--- I am not Molly McGowan. Ms. McGowan died of Hodgkin's lymphoma about seven years after making this picture.
Midnight (1939)
We've jumped into something, all right...
Happened to catch this little gem of a movie on AMC one night back when they used to show such things. Claudette is charming as the worldly-wise Eve, although her nervous giggles and mannerisms got to me after a bit. Don Ameche makes you forget all about Young Tom Edison as he proves he can BS with the best of them. The way Barrymore speaks his lines makes me want to cast him as one of the Bewitched warlocks, and Eddie Conrad is the 1930s' Danny DeVito. Sure wish AMC hadn't sold out.. Go thou and rent it. It's a wonderful Sunday afternoon romp.
International House (1933)
If you want to see this film in all its glory...
DO NOT buy the video, but wait until it is shown on television.
This is one of my favourite films of all time. I've loved it since I was a young girl. I often sing "China Teacup" while I'm doing the dishes.. Seeing that it was up for sale I immediately bought it. I have just sat through 70 minutes of the worst editing I have ever seen.
A number of continuity scenes were deleted -- minor offenses, but they assisted in setting the scene and the general ambience.
The worst offenses were the loss of the crucial little scene in which Petronovich contrives to have the hotel quarantined so that he, and not Thomas Nash, will obtain the rights to Dr. Wong's machine -- and the entire "China Teacup" production is gone, too! We hear that the quarantine is to be lifted, but the command "Open the doors!" and the ensuing mayhem are deleted -- it goes straight into Quail's driving his car into the elevator. These cuts are jarring, confusing and unnecessary. I'm astonished they left Cab Calloway in there.
In addition, the quality of the print is murky.
I'm returning the film, and asking for my money back. Don't buy this film until it's completely restored. Watch it on Turner or AMC.
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
I want to see a director's cut.
Racism aside, Amy Tan's wish to downplay the presence of major stars like France Nuyen and Lisa Lu may be one reason this picture wasn't even considered for an academy award.
Others in this forum have pointed out that the St. Clair family history was truncated, and I wondered why all the other mothers were allowed (even posthumously) to explain their life stories to their daughters, but Ying Ying did not. It was brushed off with "she would not tell me, she only said she'd been married to a bad man in China."
Amy Tan had creative control over every aspect of this picture. Tan may have been trying to keep attention away from Nuyen, fearing that she might win a Supporting Actress award and distract people from the film itself (or, Nuyen thinks, from Amy Tan herself!). Thus, Nuyen's best scene -- in which she -does- explain her life to her daughter -- was left on the cutting room floor.
If Nuyen is right, Tan doesn't appear to have considered that leaving that scene in -- giving Nuyen's great acting a chance to showcase Tan's great screenwriting ability -- might have inspired some nominations for things like Best Screenplay or even Best Picture.
This is to say nothing of Irene Ng's sparkling portrayal of teenage Lindo's brilliantly clever ploy for getting out of -her- rotten marriage, or the amazing performance of Yi Ding as little An-Mei. She had me riveted to my seat.
To whom do we write to ask that Nuyen's scene and others that were cut for similar reasons be put back in, say for future DVD releases?