Eve Arnold, from A (Anouk, Antonioni) to V (Vitti)

More on the late Magnum photographer Eve Arnold - she certainly moved in the best circles, here she is with some of my favourites, showing her great eye for composition:

One of Arnold's great mid-50s Monroe shots.
Joan Crawford in 1959 in front of that marvellous 40s portrait of her.
Dirk Bogarde and Ingrid Bergman in 1964 - Ingrid was his houseguest when she did her stage run in A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, one of the first plays I saw, in 1965.
Sophia Loren with Chaplin on the set of THE COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG, 1966
(I really need to re-see that, I have totally forgotten it!).
Anouk Aimee on the set of JUSTINE, 1969.
Monica Vitti on the set of MODESTY BLAISE, 1966.
Joe Losey in Paris, with Eve's reflections in the mirror as she takes the picture.
Michelangelo Antonioni on the set of BLOW-UP, 1966, what a great shot.
- all from her terrific book "Film Journal"

Interestingly, Yul Brynner's photographs are now on exhibition and there should be a book, these fascinating candid photos of his colleagues at work and play have not been seen before. I particularly like that nice shot of Ingrid Bergman on the set of GOODBYE AGAIN. Yul always had a camera around his neck.

Christmas treats ...

Starting with a box of macaroons from Paris - the box is a work of art in itself, I feel tempted to hang it on the wall, it has a lovely black cat on it - also a spice & marmalade cake, also from Pierre Herme, Paris. Then dipping in and out of all those old movies on television, catching up with some not seen since I was a kid, and a few old favourites.

NIGHT PASSAGE is a pleasant memory of a '50s Sunday afternoon matinee, this 1957 James Stewart western should have been another of his tough westerns with Anthony Mann, but Mann walked due to script problems, so it was directed by James Neilson. A look at frontier life along the railroad, with train robberies; I remember liking this scene with Stewart and young Brandon DeWilde on the train, also on board was Elaine Stewart (another of this year's departees, aged 80) married to big boss Jay C Flippen! Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea were among the baddies, and Ellen Corby another tough frontier woman.


TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE from 1959 - not seen this since then but its as effective and violent (effectively directed by John Gullermin) as I remembered - Gordon Scott the perfect Tarzan for '50s kids, Anthony Quayle a terrific villain with young Sean Connery and Niall McGuinness in his gang, along with bad girl Scilla Gabel - Sophia Loren's stand-in on BOY ON A DOLPHIN, and here starting out her own career as a sizzling eurobabe. Scilla was always good value in Steve Reeves epics and movies as diverse as SODOM AND GOMORRAH and my fave MODESTY BLAISE.





THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER - one of those lavish (it says here...) 1977 remakes, helmed by the usually reliable Richard Fleischer (THE VIKINGS, BARBABBAS) this is an idiotic remake of the Erroll Flynn original. Lurid colours and guest stars aplenty: Charlton Heston, the older Rex Harrison, Raquel Welch is mainly silent - the interest for me is the re-teaming of Oliver Reed (rather portly here) and David Hemmings as his evil brother - their hell-raising was taking its toll on them here, since they were young in 1964's THE SYSTEM, a key movie for me then [review at David Hemmings label], showing the 60s just starting to swing. Mark Lester as both the prince and the pauper shows that most perfect child actors (OLIVER) grow up to be very uninteresting indeed, he is lanky here with frizzy hair and there is no difference at all between his two roles ... an amusing time-waster then, not in the same league as the producers' delightful star-stuffed MUSKETEERS films by Richard Lester. Right: THE SYSTEM gang in '64 including Olly and David Hemmings - 2 years later he was the star of Antonioni's BLOW-UP and the icon of the age!



THE SEARCHERS. A classic one never tires of of course, like THE QUIET MAN and VERTIGO, also afternoon or late night delights. More on Ford's classic western at Jeffrey Hunter label - he has that bath scene here with Vera Miles (Mrs TARZAN in real life as she was then married to Gordon Scott!; her pregnancy cost her that leading role in VERTIGO). I shall get around to appreciating Vera in due course. What is jarring about THE SEARCHERS now is the treatment of the squaw Hunter accidentally marries; but to counterbalance that we have those essentially 50s yet timeless scenes with those characters Martin Pawley, Laurie Jurgenson and Natalie Wood's Debbie.

MANSFIELD PARK, the 1999 film of a Jane Austen novel seems to have divided opinions, as a lot of Austen purists hate it. I read the book some time ago, it is not my favourite Austen - that is PERSUASION by a mile, one I can re-read and like all 3 adaptations (costume drama label). The priggish Fanny Price is indeed Austen's least loveable heroine as she relishes her moral superiority over the other young people putting on the play, which she does not approve of. It is a good cast here though, with Harold Pinter (left) as Sir Thomas Bertram whose business interests in Antigua turn out to be slavery, James Purefoy and Johnny Lee Miller as his sons; the marvellous Sheila Gish (right) as Mrs Norris who tries to keep Fanny as the poor relation, and Lindsay Duncan as both Fanny's downtrodden mother and opium-addicted wife of Sir Thomas. Frances O'Connor is a spirited Fanny, but hardly fair to Austen's original.

Finally, a re-view of 1958's A TALE OF TWO CITIES as well, not seen since I was a kid. French actor Paul Guers who did actually look like Bogarde, plays Charles Darnay whom Dirk replaces on the guillotine - Guers has been in some other items I saw recently like Demy's BAY OF ANGELS and THE GIRL WITH GOLDEN EYES (both at French label). This is solid Rank Organisation fare by Ralph Thomas with all those familiar featured players: Rosalie Crutchley, Freda Jackson, Athene Seyler, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasance etc, all looking splendidly in period.

THIS HAPPY BREED. Another perennial favourite, as I have written about before (Kay Walsh label). Kay excels as Queenie the dissatisfied daughter of Robert Newton and Celia Johnson; and there is that endless bickering between Amy Vaness's mother-in-law and Alison Legatt's spinster sister, all part of the Higgins family in Clapham between the wars. The period detail is just perfect and the emotions are fully engaged, particuarly that scene when the parents in the garden are told of the deaths of their son and his wife, as the camera stays in the sitting room where afternoon tea is about to be served ...

And one discovery: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE from 2005: "When the Pevensie family are evacuated out to the country, they are unaware of the adventure they will encounter. During a game of hide and seek, the youngest daughter, Lucy discovers a wardrobe which transports her to the land of Narnia. Covered in snow, Narnia is full of weird and wonderful creatures, but is watched over by the evil White Witch. When all four Pevensie children end up through the wardrobe, they discover that it was meant to be, as two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam must join with the mighty lion, Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) to defeat the evil White Witch". Tilda Swinton is perfect as the Ice Queen/White Witch and James McAvoy (whom I had not though much of) is an adorable faun and the children are just perfect. For a CGI movie I liked it a lot, and Andrew Adamson's direction is also perfect! I shall have to watch the others now ...



The new DOWNTON ABBEY special is indeed a treat, and ticks all the right boxes, and the new GREAT EXPECTATIONS is an odd re-telling, rather different from Lean's version, with Ray Winstone a perfect Magwitch, and Gillian Anderson as a wraith-like younger Miss Havisham. Unusual though to see a plain-jane Estella (who is meant to be a glacial beauty out of the rather ordindary Pip's league), but here Pip with his sculptured cheekbones and pouting lips, is much prettier than her! Pip is Douglas Booth who was one of Isherwood's boys in CHRISTOPHER AND HIS KIND (gay interest label). Now for that BEN HUR re-boot, with Winstone again (as Jack Hawkins). It cannot be a patch on Wyler's classic but may have some cheap laughs!
BEN HUR (2010) actually turned out to be quite interesting, shot in Morocco it looks more like THE LIFE OF BRIAN than a Hollywood blockbuster, and wisely does not try to be - the chariot race for instance is much smaller scale (no circus maximus here) and the ships at war are courtesy of CGI effects and there are interesting script variations from the Wyler film. Winstone is a mumbling Arrius, Hugh Bonneville good as a nasty Pilate, Alex Kingston right as Mrs Hur (the leprosy is also played down), but in all a radical re-working of the original material. Joseph Morgan is a totally underwhelming uncharismatic Ben, but Stephen Campbell Moore (from THE HISTORY BOYS) a rather good Messala.
We will though be still watching the Lean and Wyler originals when these lightweight remakes are soon forgotten - I tuned in to Lean's EXPECTATIONS again yesterday and was bowled over again by how perfect it all was, with that great double act of Martita Hunt and Jean Simmons as the perfect Havisham and Estella, and that marvellous black and white photography, so right for Dickens.

Another Kay Kendall rarity ...

MANTRAP (MAN IN HIDING) - a nifty oh-so British thriller from 1953 captures post-war London nicely (as POOL OF LONDON did, see review at London label) with its upper-class Mayfair locations and nightclubs and the bombed-out sites around St Paul's Cathedral. It is an early Hammer film directed by Hammer maestro Terence Fisher (who went on to do the Draculas and Frankensteins and Mummys), but what is particularly fascinating about it for me is that 1953 cast - Paul Henreid is the lead, Keiron Moore the guy on the run - the main heroine is a rather uninteresting Lois Maxwell - who went on to be Miss Moneypenny in the Bonds, and, my favourite, Kay Kendall as Henreid's amour, just before she went on to acclaim in GENEVIEVE. Below her in the cast list is Anthony Forwood as the gin-tippling photographer, one of his few acting credits before giving it up to manage Dirk Bogarde's career and of course being his partner [Kay of course being a great chum of Bogarde's too], he having been previously married to Glynis Johns. Their son Gareth must have been named after his character in KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, which was on show last week, as was the Richard Todd Disney ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN where he was Will Scarlett. Young Bill Travers is here too.
Its an amusingly dated little thriller, before English crime movies got into the swing of the 50s, and another of Kay's early roles which have been fun to track down now, like FAST AND LOOSE, DANCE HALL, MAN IN THE SHADOWS, ABDULLAH THE GREAT, CURTAIN UP, IT STARTED IN PARADISE since her debut as a teenager in LONDON UP in '46. She soon got into her stride after this one before heading off to Hollywood and that marriage to Rex Harrison. The English 50s were her decade.

Downton Abbey returns, plus Jane and Alice ...

No sun-dappled gardens or gentle rustling of taffeta greets viewers as they return to DOWNTON ABBEY for Series 2. We are blasted straight into the trenches, where a mud-covered Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) is heroically fighting the Great War. The first series began with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 when the Downton estate loses its male heir, and ended with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It is now 1916 as we revisit Julian Fellowes’s “posh soap opera” featuring the Lords and Ladies of the Estate and their downstairs staff, who get equal screen time.

Previous classic costume dramas like UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS were a bit staid, but the fascinating thing about DOWNTON is that is done in the modern zappy American style. Each character – and there’s about 20 of them - have their own story arcs and there are some marvellous bits of humour here and there, as in the first episode here, the uppity new maid wanted the cook Mrs Patmore to save her some of the crepes suzettes from “upstairs” but she annoys the cook who takes pleasure is tossing the pancakes to the dog – it’s a little moment but a satisfying one.

While Armageddon rages abroad, life at Downton remains stultifyingly the same for the Earl (Hugh Bonneville) and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockerty). By moving the action from the relative frippery of country-house living to war, Fellowes has wisely raised the stakes and given the actors more to chew on. Lady Edith is still a bitch but apparently will change, ditto Lady Sybil. Then there is Mr Bates the valet and his evil wife, ladies maid O’Brien is still as poisonous as ever, as the house is presided over by the butler and wise housekeeper (Phyllis Logan). The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith in a late great role) still has some biting retorts as she and Mrs Crawley (Penelope Wilton) try to gain the upper hand. But it is our star-crossed lovers – Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) the new heir and Lady Mary who fascinate.

Lots to look forward to here then as the Estate becomes a convalescent home, and will Matthew and that devious footman Thomas survive in the trenches? Overall, the sumptuous drama remains as inviting as before. Classic costume drama at it’s best then. Best though to record it and watch afterwards, zapping out the commercial breaks as there are too many of them, and how soon will the DVD be out?

During my recent hospital engagement I decided to read some old books which have become favourite films, so it was a pleasure to actually read the original BLACK NARCISSUS by Rumer Godden, first published in 1939 and never out of print, ditto her THE GREENGAGE SUMMER which became that intriguing 1961 film with Kenneth More, Danielle Darrieux and Susannah York, and also the 1950s novel by A.J. Cronin THE SPANISH GARDENER which became that popular Dirk Bogarde movie in 1956, but how they changed it! I was astonished to see that Jose is 19 and the father too is taken with his attractive physique, Jose though gets killed while trying to escape due to the father’s intervention. Bogarde was in his mid-30s then so Jose is a lot older (and provided with a girlfriend to keep his relationship with the boy innocent). The Rank Organisation were of course not going to kill off their 'Idol of the Odeons', so Jose not only survives in the film but sends the reconciled father and son happily on their way to their next posting - a total reversal of the ending in the book which is much bleaker with father and son now posted to Sweden and Nicholas resolved to get away from the unloved father and return to his mother as soon as he can! (Reviews of these at Bogarde, York, Deborah Kerr, Black Narcissus labels).

I now see that Jane Asher (who played the younger sister in THE GREENGAGE SUMMER (LOSS OF INNOCENCE) is playing Lady Bracknell in a new production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and I imagine she will be terrific in the role. Asher is actually the same age (64) as Dame Edith Evans when she played the role. Several actresses have portrayed a younger sexier Lady Bracknell - Jane should be perfect! What a contrast to her dolly bird in Skolimowski's 1970 DEEP END, reviewed here (Jane Asher label), and just out on dvd.



Below: performers now have the internet in their dressing rooms!

Alice Krige has also turned into a fascinating presence - now in the BBC series SPOOKS as Peter Firth's lost love, and as Ralph Fiennes' ex-wife in PAGE EIGHT the recent film by David Hare (reviewed recently here). I did not see her Borg Queen in a STAR TREK film, but she has been quietly impressive so many different genres - that icy patrician Roman in the 2001 ATTILA (as played by Gerard Butler), SOLOMON KANE, and others since her debut in CHARIOTS OF FIRE.

Actors 2

A lovely still from Antonioni's L'ECLISSE, 1962, with Alain Delon. The link below, if you copy to your browser, features a terrific page of animated stills of this and other movies like TAXI DRIVER, BLADE RUNNER, 2001, LOLITA etc with brilliant animation of the stills. Enjoy!

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2011/09/cinematographs_living_breathin.html

10 great male performances: (or my favourites at any rate)

Robert De Niro - TAXI DRIVER & RAGING BULL (and his sax player in NEW YORK NEW YORK!)
Dirk Bogarde - THE SERVANT / MODESTY BLAISE / DEATH IN VENICE
James Mason - A STAR IS BORN
Maurice Ronet - LE FEU FOLLET
Peter Finch - SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY / THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE
Anton Walbrook - THE RED SHOES
Ralph Richardson - THE HEIRESS
Montgomery Clift - WILD RIVER
David Hemmings - BLOW-UP
Cary Grant - NOTORIOUS
Gary Cooper - FRIENDLY PERSUASION
James Dean - EAST OF EDEN
and sneaking in Jack Lemmon as Daphne in SOME LIKE IT HOT - Tony ain't bad either!

Star of the day: One more Dirk Bogarde item....

To round off my Dirk Bogarde day, another round of images ... those romantic poses from A TALE OF TWO CITIES, the notorious leather trousers in THE SINGER NOT THE SONG, in repose on I COULD GO ON SINGING, with Alan Bates in THE FIXER and Michael York in JUSTINE, and with Susannah York in OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR.