tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post5853627320689334798..comments2023-10-11T03:42:59.033-07:00Comments on The Criterion Contraption: #96: Written on the WindMatthew Dessemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-65114295052307265822010-05-05T06:30:53.551-07:002010-05-05T06:30:53.551-07:00Thank you very much sharing this information with ...Thank you very much sharing this information with us,. This post describes the cine field artists how much strain they got.ozeeyahttp://ozeeya.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-65350063701834197572010-04-19T13:29:38.146-07:002010-04-19T13:29:38.146-07:00--oh and, the best thing about that scene where St...--oh and, the best thing about that scene where Stack leaves the doctor's office after having been told he's incapable of fathering children and is brought up short by the sight of the child? Look at his line of sight. He's not looking with envy at the child. He's looking at the throbbing hugeness between the boy's legs. That's where his envy is focused.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02647734583804620820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-2870012132689684912010-04-19T13:26:08.648-07:002010-04-19T13:26:08.648-07:00There are days when All That Heaven Allows is my f...There are days when <b><i>All That Heaven Allows</i></b> is my favorite too. But it's so much more serious. To borrow Beethoven's description of his Eighth Symphony, <b><i>Written on the Wind</i></b> is more "unbuttoned." For similar reasons, <b><i>The Birds</i></b> is usually my favorite Hitchcock: Hitchcock was always so cold an clinical, but <b><i>The Birds</i></b> is an Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02647734583804620820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-29364219226223720172010-04-19T11:51:22.550-07:002010-04-19T11:51:22.550-07:00Charley,
I wouldn't say I dismissed it! I di...Charley,<br /><br />I wouldn't say I dismissed it! I didn't like it as much as <em>All That Heaven Allows</em>. That's a pretty high bar to set.Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-44675703989637286332010-04-19T11:15:03.113-07:002010-04-19T11:15:03.113-07:00Written on the Wind may be my favorite Sirk film, ...<b><i>Written on the Wind</i></b> may be my favorite Sirk film, precisely for the reasons that Matthew disdains it. Surely you don't think that all the misfires you read in the film were beyond Sirk's comprehension? Trust me--well trust Sirk--every moment of inept overacting was part of Sirk's strategy. For example, you point out how dull Hudson's and Bacall's characters are. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02647734583804620820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-84321750585023445182010-03-07T00:46:08.187-08:002010-03-07T00:46:08.187-08:00Sirk and Ophuls to me have very little in common, ...Sirk and Ophuls to me have very little in common, though Sirk did do one movie, There's Always Tomorrow (just came out on Masters of Cinema) that plays almost like a reinterpretation of an Ophuls movie, The Reckless Moment, which is sort of a domestic noir and perhaps Ophuls's best American film. In very broad terms they do have a bit in common, they're both arguably feminists, they Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495408546806192092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-84053085506178456642010-02-06T02:56:04.760-08:002010-02-06T02:56:04.760-08:00I decided today while browsing the Criterion Colle...I decided today while browsing the Criterion Collection rack at a local record store that I'd endeavor to watch the entire list in numerical order and write about it. Coming upon your blog tonight I see that my idea wasn't such an original one. Oh well, I still plan on giving it a shot.<br /><br />Anyway, great blog.Claire Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01312160327241129943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-60888824286068194292010-01-14T15:45:00.337-08:002010-01-14T15:45:00.337-08:00Came across your blog from an article on IFC's...Came across your blog from an article on IFC's website. <br /><br />Fantastic stuff! I look forward to reading the archives...chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-69681430796152647192010-01-09T08:23:14.021-08:002010-01-09T08:23:14.021-08:00Wow! This blog is really buzzing now. Congrats aga...Wow! This blog is really buzzing now. Congrats again. Your readership just got a huge upgrade. <br />Yes WOTW is totally Malone's film. Its been a while since I last watched it. Bu I remember that I didn't like how Sirk set up his story as much as how he ended it. The scene with the fake pond is hysterical, Joan Crawford material. Did Sirk ever work with Crawford? I'll be googling Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-41572017763901123392010-01-08T23:39:54.784-08:002010-01-08T23:39:54.784-08:00If you really are interested in non-weepy Sirk, ch...If you really are interested in non-weepy Sirk, check out Shockproof. It's essentially your basic film noir, with the kicker that it was scripted by Sam Fuller. Sony just released it on their Fuller boxset.legatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-75880548405433557012010-01-08T21:11:39.014-08:002010-01-08T21:11:39.014-08:00Wow!
It's always nice to see other Ophuls fans...Wow!<br />It's always nice to see other Ophuls fans. <br /><br />In any case: sorry about getting back to you so late (I read your essay at work). <br /><br />The film where Ophuls is at his most semiotic (and Sirk most definitely is) would probably be <i>The Earrings of Madame De...</i> It has the most straight images of any Ophuls film (more or less, they're meant to flow without Matthias Galvinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-8583358813558253342010-01-08T12:17:35.692-08:002010-01-08T12:17:35.692-08:00Add in some of his American films: Letter from an ...Add in some of his American films: <i>Letter from an Unknown Woman</i> above all (it's very much of a piece with the 3 films in the Criterion collection), though <i>The Reckless Moment</i> and <i>Caught</i> are also excellent.<br /><br />I also like <i>Liebelei</i>, though good luck finding it.ndhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12087777428126727780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-79423475026416838842010-01-08T11:21:10.539-08:002010-01-08T11:21:10.539-08:00Ophuls' best is "Earrings of Madame de…&q...Ophuls' best is "Earrings of Madame de…" Criterion #445, but "La Ronde," #443, is a great fun, and "Le Plaisir," #444, is quite wonderful too.<br /><br />Keep Kubrick & Scorsese in the back of your mind as you watch Ophuls move the camera.Enriquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699369819519784441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-34287110242902338582010-01-08T09:58:34.354-08:002010-01-08T09:58:34.354-08:00Emily Jane,
I love that scene, meant to talk abou...Emily Jane,<br /><br />I love that scene, meant to talk about it in a bullet point about being unable to look at Robert Keith without thinking of the Twilight Zone episode "The Masks," then completely forgot. I'll add it tonight. <br /><br />And yeah, no one could have predicted Dorothy Malone's performance. Bacall does all right in the scene where they confront each other Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-76706109988573434182010-01-08T09:55:04.149-08:002010-01-08T09:55:04.149-08:00Matthias,
Thanks, man! Interesting, re: Ophuls;...Matthias, <br /><br />Thanks, man! Interesting, re: Ophuls; I will confess that all I know of his films is James Mason's couplet:<br /><br />A shot that does not call for tracks<br />Is agony for dear old Max.<br /><br />I'll watch him post-haste, any suggestions on where to start?Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-2395762899626481762010-01-08T09:44:34.135-08:002010-01-08T09:44:34.135-08:00I'm surprised you didn't talk about the fa...I'm surprised you didn't talk about the fantastic Dorothy Malone dancing in her room scene while the father falls down the stairs. That, too me, makes the movie worth watching it for kitsch value alone. I always figure Sirk knew what he was doing but also what he was up against. I don't count Bacall's reticence as so much a fault as a miscalculation just how exuberant Malone wouldEmily Janenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-75025453060702353062010-01-08T07:58:22.284-08:002010-01-08T07:58:22.284-08:00Brilliant as always!
And, though I'm a bit lat...Brilliant as always!<br />And, though I'm a bit late to the party, very big congrats on the recognition by Roger Ebert. We all know you more than deserve it.<br /><br />re. Sirk; though it's not easily apparent (nor is the connection really that strong), I always thought that he was something of an American counterpart to Ophuls, given the nature of the subjects they handled, and their Matthias Galvinnoreply@blogger.com