Presumptuous?
…My dear JB and JL…
It would be presumptuous to make suggestions as to what you might
include in “Stuff You Gotta Watch,” but for fans like me
who wait with bated breath for each new entry in your marvelous
website, we were wondering…why isn’t there more Chaplin
and Keaton? Have City Lights and The Gold Rush, The General and
Our Hospitality (e.g.) entered our collective consciousness to the
point where they are “beyond” further
criticism??
I am dismayed to realize that, as I age (I am currently 43) we can no longer assume that “everyone” knows that The Gold Rush was Charlie’s most triumphant film, that City Lights features its breathtaking ending, that The General was “The Masterpiece that Failed” (Tom Dardis)…and that Our Hospitality is yours truly’s favorite Keaton (ahem)… etc.
For goodness’ sake, I am meeting people these days who have never heard of Abbott and Costello! Yikes!!!
Please do not underestimate the very real service you provide in keeping these (wonderful) old films alive…you two are da’ best!!
Your Number One Fan in the Great Northwest,
Tory Mitchell
PS Loved the additional comments on The Asphalt Jungle…rented that film as a result of the review on SYGW, and it certainly is true that there was nothing at all “cool” about the unraveling of the mugs’ plot…I am especially heartbroken for (I believe it is) the safecracker (?) who takes a bullet when he seems to have a nice family at home…
(After a private reply to Tory about how random our new reviews are, we received this letter):
JB and JL…
Isn’t it funny/wonderful how kicks/grooves/moods work when it
comes to films? I understand exactly what you mean…earlier
this year I was given a set of all the pre-MGM Marx Bros. films and
then later got a set of all the MGM and forward Marx Bros. (except for
Love Happy, I haven’t seen that one yet.)! I got rather
obsessed watching them. And I got to finally decide which was my
all-time favorite, as in the past I used to always say it was a
three-way tie between Opera, Horsefeathers, and Duck Soup.
As perfect as Opera and Soup are, I will agree with JB and give the nod to Horsefeathers as the number one Marx pix. I think I may have told you in an earlier missive that, uh, my family laughs at me as I watch that film, as I toggle back and forth between raucous laughter and sobbing tears (oh, leave me alone) with lightening speed. Amazing to me that a film which features the brothers at full throttle in their disrespect for society’s conventions nonetheless features multiple versions of a song whose refrain is “I Love You…” I suppose you could argue that one of the conventions they are snubbing is our reticence to say “I Love You” ourselves, hmmm?? And when Harpo whistles the song to his horse while they are sharing breakfast…oh, dear, I am misting up again…[and then later when Harpo’s hat has a sign on it that says “kidnapper” {earlier it said “dogcatcher”} when he goes to get the football players…HA HA HAAAAAA!~] I am a bit emotional when it comes to that picture…moving on…
As to my current groove, night before last I got Each Dawn I Die (as a result of seeing it on SYGW!!) and have to say that JB’s comments were spot-on as usual. The film needed a bigger female lead, the plot is preposterous, but the energy Cagney and Raft (esp. Raft!) bring makes the picture work. But not one I would especially rush to see again soon…
And then LAST night I got I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang …I believe that was one JL reviewed, and he, too, was right on when he points out how sophisticated that puppy is!! I watched it with my older daughter and we really loved it. The ending was spectacular, and I am now excited to see more Muni films…
So I am on a prison picture kick!
I wonder what will be next… Pardon Us, anyone?
Tory in Portland, Oregon
…My dear JB and JL…
It would be presumptuous to make suggestions as to what you might
include in “Stuff You Gotta Watch,” but for fans like me
who wait with bated breath for each new entry in your marvelous
website, we were wondering…why isn’t there more Chaplin
and Keaton? Have City Lights and The Gold Rush, The General and
Our Hospitality (e.g.) entered our collective consciousness to the
point where they are “beyond” further
criticism?? I am dismayed to realize that, as I age (I am currently 43) we can no longer assume that “everyone” knows that The Gold Rush was Charlie’s most triumphant film, that City Lights features its breathtaking ending, that The General was “The Masterpiece that Failed” (Tom Dardis)…and that Our Hospitality is yours truly’s favorite Keaton (ahem)… etc.
For goodness’ sake, I am meeting people these days who have never heard of Abbott and Costello! Yikes!!!
Please do not underestimate the very real service you provide in keeping these (wonderful) old films alive…you two are da’ best!!
Your Number One Fan in the Great Northwest,
Tory Mitchell
PS Loved the additional comments on The Asphalt Jungle…rented that film as a result of the review on SYGW, and it certainly is true that there was nothing at all “cool” about the unraveling of the mugs’ plot…I am especially heartbroken for (I believe it is) the safecracker (?) who takes a bullet when he seems to have a nice family at home…
(After a private reply to Tory about how random our new reviews are, we received this letter):
JB and JL…
Isn’t it funny/wonderful how kicks/grooves/moods work when it
comes to films? I understand exactly what you mean…earlier
this year I was given a set of all the pre-MGM Marx Bros. films and
then later got a set of all the MGM and forward Marx Bros. (except for
Love Happy, I haven’t seen that one yet.)! I got rather
obsessed watching them. And I got to finally decide which was my
all-time favorite, as in the past I used to always say it was a
three-way tie between Opera, Horsefeathers, and Duck Soup.As perfect as Opera and Soup are, I will agree with JB and give the nod to Horsefeathers as the number one Marx pix. I think I may have told you in an earlier missive that, uh, my family laughs at me as I watch that film, as I toggle back and forth between raucous laughter and sobbing tears (oh, leave me alone) with lightening speed. Amazing to me that a film which features the brothers at full throttle in their disrespect for society’s conventions nonetheless features multiple versions of a song whose refrain is “I Love You…” I suppose you could argue that one of the conventions they are snubbing is our reticence to say “I Love You” ourselves, hmmm?? And when Harpo whistles the song to his horse while they are sharing breakfast…oh, dear, I am misting up again…[and then later when Harpo’s hat has a sign on it that says “kidnapper” {earlier it said “dogcatcher”} when he goes to get the football players…HA HA HAAAAAA!~] I am a bit emotional when it comes to that picture…moving on…
As to my current groove, night before last I got Each Dawn I Die (as a result of seeing it on SYGW!!) and have to say that JB’s comments were spot-on as usual. The film needed a bigger female lead, the plot is preposterous, but the energy Cagney and Raft (esp. Raft!) bring makes the picture work. But not one I would especially rush to see again soon…
And then LAST night I got I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang …I believe that was one JL reviewed, and he, too, was right on when he points out how sophisticated that puppy is!! I watched it with my older daughter and we really loved it. The ending was spectacular, and I am now excited to see more Muni films…
So I am on a prison picture kick!
I wonder what will be next… Pardon Us, anyone?
Tory in Portland, Oregon