cbf@allegra.UUCP (09/28/83)
O.K.
1946: *Lady in the Lake*, dir. Robert Montgomery who also stars as
Philip Marlowe in a mostly unmemorable adaptation of the Chandler
novel. The entire movie is shot from Marlowe's point of view, and we
only see his reflection in various mirror shots. I have not seen it.
1947: *Dark Passage*. Humphrey Bogart plays a (framed) escaped convict
who hides out in Lauren Bacall's apartment, then undergoes plastic
surgery so that he can go about proving himself innocent. For about
the first 40 minutes of the movie, we see everything through his eyes
until he removes the bandages. With *To Have and Have Not*, this is my
favorite Bogie-Bacall pairing, a real joy of a movie. Gimmicky,
melodramatic, prepostrous and delightful. The bit parts are
wonderfully done, especially that of a wise cabbie. Agnes Moorehead,
in a chilling supporting role, all but upstages Bacall. The plastic
surgery scene with an eccentric quack is a howl.
1948: *Rope*. Hitchcock's first color film. The film is done in very
long takes, some lasting more than ten minutes. Two facetious preppies
(Farley Granger plays one of them) kill a college friend for fun, then
proceed to drop clues of their guilt also for fun. There are strong
hints of a (sublimated or not) homoerotic bond between the two. Jimmy
Stewart, who stars in all the newly released films except *The Trouble
with Harry*, plays the lead. I have not seen it.
1950: *All About Eve*. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. No relation to the other
three, but I caught it for the fourth time the other night while the
network televison season was opening with a big splash. One of the
great class acts. Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and George Sanders tear
apart "The Theatre", while indulging in some of the most memorable
dialogue ever to come out of Hollywood. I'll resist quoting a dozen
great lines and simply repeat one sublime exchange:
Playwright (annoyed, to his wife): You're displaying a worldly
cynicism you didn't use to have back at Radcliffe.
Wife (Celeste Holm): That cynicism you refer to is something I
acquired the day I discovered I was different from little boys.
Indeed.
--Charles (decvax!allegra!cbf)