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2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

5 items from 2012

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Deborah Kerr: What Lies Beneath

22 May 2012 2:02 PM, PDT | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, From Here to Eternity. With Deborah Kerr, it’s not the bare shoulders that matter. It’s the eyes. Deborah Kerr, who died at the age of 86 on Oct. 16, 2007, has usually been labeled the cinematic embodiment of the English Rose: ladylike from coiffure to pedicure, perfectly enunciated English, a distinctive coolness, poise and class. I won’t argue with that description (except to point out that this English Rose was born in Scotland), but all the same I wonder if any of those labelers have ever watched Deborah Kerr on screen other than the "Shall We Dance?" sequence in The King and I. Then there are those who have seen two Deborah Kerr scenes: "Shall We Dance?" and the kissing-on-the-beach bit in From Here to Eternity. Shocking! Who would have guessed that the cool, red-headed British lady could be so fiery? Well, anyone who has paid »

- Andre Soares

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The Films Of Billy Wilder: A Retrospective

27 March 2012 1:44 PM, PDT | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »

"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."

So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?

Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of »

- Oliver Lyttelton

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Jean Arthur Movies/TCM: The More The Merrier

6 March 2012 5:43 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, The More the Merrier The delightful actress Jean Arthur is Turner Classic Movies' star of the evening tonight. Beginning at 5 p.m. Pt, TCM will show five Jean Arthur movies: The Talk of the Town (1942), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Public Menace (1935), The More the Merrier (1943), and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Directed by George Stevens, The Talk of the Town received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and two for its story and screenplay. (Back in those days there were three Best Writing categories.) Arthur is outstanding as a schoolteacher — this is perhaps my favorite among her performances — torn between a law professor (an equally outstanding Ronald Colman) and an escaped convict (Cary Grant). As a plus, former Warner Bros. contract player Glenda Farrell is excellent in a supporting role. The Talk of the Town is not to be missed. Though much less »

- Andre Soares

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Greer Garson, Joan Crawford: Deceased Honorary Oscar-less

17 February 2012 4:01 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

Walter Pidgeon, Greer Garson in William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver Honorary Oscars and Women Pt.2: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux, Joan Fontaine, Maureen O'Hara On the list of film industry women who have yet to receive an Honorary Award, I did not include Olivia de Havilland, Elizabeth Taylor, Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson, Luise Rainer, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, and Jessica Lange because each of them has already won two acting awards. Barbara Kopple, Thelma Schoonmaker, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, for their part, have each already won two Oscars for, respectively, documentary feature, film editing, and screenwriting. Barbra Streisand, I should note, has also won two Oscars; the second one, however, was as co-composer (with Paul Williams) of the song "Evergreen" from A Star Is Born. Only someone like Elia Kazan — i.e., with friends in high Academy places — can have two Academy Award wins in a »

- Andre Soares

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Jerry Lewis, Christopher Hitchens: Unfunny Women, Reactionary Men

13 January 2012 1:47 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

While accepting the award for Best Comedy for Bridesmaids at the 2012 Critics Choice Awards ceremony, Judd Apatow ended his speech with the following: "Jerry Lewis [photo] once said that he didn’t think women were funny. So I’d just like to say, with all respect, fuck you." Jerry Lewis' negative comment about female comedians was made at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 1998. During a Q&A session with Martin Short, Lewis said "I don't like any female comedians." What about Lucille Ball, Short asked? "No. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." This from the guy who grew up at a time when Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler, »

- Andre Soares

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2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

5 items from 2012

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