Now as I mentioned in my first post from nine (!) years ago, I am a big fan of Orson Welles and I do think that his first film, “Citizen Kane” is the most important film ever made. For his second film, he chose a literary adaptation of one of his favorite authors from boyhood, Booth Tarkington. An entirely different form and style from his first film, the first half of his second film, “The Magnificent Ambersons” is almost as brilliant a piece of film making as his debut. Unfortunately, at this point, the heads of RKO were so out of love with the ‘enfant terrible’ of the New York stage and the moment he was safely away in Brazil making a little harmless propaganda film called “It’s All True”, the studio set several people to work at completing the editing of ‘Ambersons’ with a legendary drastic result, cutting out about 45 minutes of footage and re-writing and re-shooting the ending to more closely resemble that of the novel (Welles’ ending , if other’s memories can be trusted, while totally departing from the author’s ending was a far more adult and realistic way to end the film, perfectly in keeping with the themes of the novel that Welles chose to emphasize in his adaptation: that of a proud Victorian family unwilling to change with the changing American culture, becomes ploughed under and obliterated by it.
That was the last time he tried to rise to the challenge of exploiting the medium. He had been defeated by the Hollywood machine. With the exception of the much later “Touch of Evil”, the rest of his Hollywood films were marred by his willingness to “play by the rules”, to try and prove that he could direct a film and keep it on time and on budget. From this point on, he was forever trying to earn enough money with acting in film and radio, directing from time to time, in order to fund the projects that he was really passionate about; stage productions and a handful of films that were shot in Europe on a shoestring budget and on weekends when he could get a cast and crew together.
And now to the SUBJECT of this post, “The Lady from Shanghai”. This film resulted in a trade to Columbia producer, Harry Cohen. If Cohen would help to fund Welles’ current stage production of “Around the World in 80 Days”, Welles would direct and act in a film for Columbia.
Tonight was probably the third or fourth time I have watched this film- no need to ever do so again! (In contrast- I feel like a part of me is missing if I go one year without watching ‘Kane’ or three years without watching the flawed but brilliant ‘Ambersons’). It is obvious to me that Welles’ only interest in making this film was to do the job he promised to. There is no attempt to tell ANY of this story visually- the film could have been made by any ‘B’ grade director of the day. Other than the much-ballyhooed funhouse sequence in the end (a total gimmick), there isn’t even any sort of visual style throughout the film. American critics did not take to it at the time. Europe was a little kinder to it (but when one looks at where European filmmaking was going- is there any surprise?). Now, of course, it is hailed as a masterpiece, one of the greatest film noirs of all time (to this we’ve come? I ask myself!).
The one pleasure this film gives me is the opportunity to see glimpses of The waterfront of Sausalito and parts of San Francisco the way I saw it as a child before things were ‘gussied up’ for the 1970’s and 80’s. As a native of Marin County, I have always been disappointed in how few great films take place in that great city, San Francisco. It’s a very important city culturally and historically and yet far more films are set in New York or Los Angeles. Watching “The Conversation” or “What’s Up Doc” makes me feel like a proud relative wanting someone to boast too (“Chu Chu and the Filly Flash” Inspires me to the shame of a poor relation).
I promise that some day I will get around to talking about “Citizen Kane”. I realize that I had very little to say about “Lady from Shanghai” but that is basically the point of this post; there is nothing worthwhile to say about this film!
Monday, April 13, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Covid-19 and the Eight Year Hiatus
Often guilty of over promising and non-delivering, I really failed as a blogger! My first and only post eight years ago! Well, that is what happens when a man buys a dilapidated old house with the intention of giving it a full-body facelift. If it is not consuming all of my energy, I am recuperating from giving it all of my energy and it is still pretty far from done.
I’m done with excuses now and will proceed to the purpose of this post. Along with most everyone in this country (much of the world, actually) I am in isolation at home, trying to do my part to slow the destructive creep of this terrible disease. I wish I could say that I had more time to watch films but working from home has not meant that my duties have become lighter, they’ve become quite a bit heavier. To wrap up and unwind from the day, I allow myself to watch ONE film (two if they are short).
Months and months ago, I gave up on Netflix dvd and streaming because I’ve already seen everything that I can find that’s worth watching. Instead, I have been enjoying Turner Classic Movies on-demand service for cable subscribers. A lifelong film buff, I have seen most of the films worth watching on there but I enjoy watching some of them again and I have found quite a few that are very entertaining, if not really praiseworthy.
Peter Bogdanovich’s first film, “Targets” (1968), is a film that I watched AEONS ago in my former life as a young man. I don’t recall that the film made a very strong impression on me at the time. It was probably a lousy print but after just having watched it again, some thirty-odd years later, I am really astonished that all I could remember about the film was that it featured Boris Karloff. I was a film student at the time, constantly watching, studying and writing about great films. I also had not really cemented my own theoretical beliefs about the art of film. All this time later when a truly well-crafted film is a rare thing when it comes along, I never forget it!
Earlier this week, I sat through “Rashomon”, which I thought I had never seen (???: A film theory and criticism major? How could this be possible?) but about 2/3 of the way through, I realized that I HAD seen the film and evidently it went in one eye and out the other (the worst thing I can say about a film- well ALMOST the worst thing that I can say). I gave “The Seven Samurai” 45 minutes the next evening before giving up and watching “The Panic in Needle Park” instead. Akira Kurosawa’s films leave me scratching my head. I see plenty in his films but mostly I am hearing; words, words and more words. I see no cinema at all. And yet they announced that both of these films are considered to be among the top 30 films of ALL time.
Along comes “Targets”. I wasn’t even going to watch it because I remembered so little about it. Must have been a weak freshman effort. At the last moment, I decided to watch it after all. What a pleasant surprise. Now for those of you who judge the worth of a film by the performances of the actors, you would say it is a mediocre film but for those of us “in the know” film viewers, it is a very good example of the apex of cinematic art: visual storytelling. Bogdanovich was given a challenge by producer Roger Corman- if you can find a way to use Boris Karloff for his remaining two contract days and footage from his most recent release, “The Terror”- you can make any film you want to.
I have to heap praise on the young filmmakers ingenuity for he far exceeded anyone’s expectations with the result. It is not a perfect film but has so much greatness in it for the way Bogdanovich uses his visuals to tell the story. He uses almost every artistic arrow in a filmmakers quiver, slow pans, tilts, tracking shots, closeups, long shots, and intercutting them to create the slow burn of horrific suspense that makes this film so worthwhile.
Sadly, the theme of the film that the real-live horrors of the present day (1968 present day) are far more terrifying than the heavy-handed overextended tropes of the Victorian era, has become far too relevant and even more terrifying for our own present of 2020.
As always, I recommend that a really good film is best viewed without having read a synopsis or seen a trailer to give away the punchline. The viewing experience is so enhanced when the viewer has little to no expectations and allows the film to unfold exactly as its creators designed it to.
One word of caution: if you or someone close to you has been touched by a mass shooting incident- this film my be too disturbing. This is not a film to entertain, but to enlighten. Unless I wind up with dementia, I don’t expect that I will ever forget this film again!
I’m done with excuses now and will proceed to the purpose of this post. Along with most everyone in this country (much of the world, actually) I am in isolation at home, trying to do my part to slow the destructive creep of this terrible disease. I wish I could say that I had more time to watch films but working from home has not meant that my duties have become lighter, they’ve become quite a bit heavier. To wrap up and unwind from the day, I allow myself to watch ONE film (two if they are short).
Months and months ago, I gave up on Netflix dvd and streaming because I’ve already seen everything that I can find that’s worth watching. Instead, I have been enjoying Turner Classic Movies on-demand service for cable subscribers. A lifelong film buff, I have seen most of the films worth watching on there but I enjoy watching some of them again and I have found quite a few that are very entertaining, if not really praiseworthy.
Peter Bogdanovich’s first film, “Targets” (1968), is a film that I watched AEONS ago in my former life as a young man. I don’t recall that the film made a very strong impression on me at the time. It was probably a lousy print but after just having watched it again, some thirty-odd years later, I am really astonished that all I could remember about the film was that it featured Boris Karloff. I was a film student at the time, constantly watching, studying and writing about great films. I also had not really cemented my own theoretical beliefs about the art of film. All this time later when a truly well-crafted film is a rare thing when it comes along, I never forget it!
Earlier this week, I sat through “Rashomon”, which I thought I had never seen (???: A film theory and criticism major? How could this be possible?) but about 2/3 of the way through, I realized that I HAD seen the film and evidently it went in one eye and out the other (the worst thing I can say about a film- well ALMOST the worst thing that I can say). I gave “The Seven Samurai” 45 minutes the next evening before giving up and watching “The Panic in Needle Park” instead. Akira Kurosawa’s films leave me scratching my head. I see plenty in his films but mostly I am hearing; words, words and more words. I see no cinema at all. And yet they announced that both of these films are considered to be among the top 30 films of ALL time.
Along comes “Targets”. I wasn’t even going to watch it because I remembered so little about it. Must have been a weak freshman effort. At the last moment, I decided to watch it after all. What a pleasant surprise. Now for those of you who judge the worth of a film by the performances of the actors, you would say it is a mediocre film but for those of us “in the know” film viewers, it is a very good example of the apex of cinematic art: visual storytelling. Bogdanovich was given a challenge by producer Roger Corman- if you can find a way to use Boris Karloff for his remaining two contract days and footage from his most recent release, “The Terror”- you can make any film you want to.
I have to heap praise on the young filmmakers ingenuity for he far exceeded anyone’s expectations with the result. It is not a perfect film but has so much greatness in it for the way Bogdanovich uses his visuals to tell the story. He uses almost every artistic arrow in a filmmakers quiver, slow pans, tilts, tracking shots, closeups, long shots, and intercutting them to create the slow burn of horrific suspense that makes this film so worthwhile.
Sadly, the theme of the film that the real-live horrors of the present day (1968 present day) are far more terrifying than the heavy-handed overextended tropes of the Victorian era, has become far too relevant and even more terrifying for our own present of 2020.
As always, I recommend that a really good film is best viewed without having read a synopsis or seen a trailer to give away the punchline. The viewing experience is so enhanced when the viewer has little to no expectations and allows the film to unfold exactly as its creators designed it to.
One word of caution: if you or someone close to you has been touched by a mass shooting incident- this film my be too disturbing. This is not a film to entertain, but to enlighten. Unless I wind up with dementia, I don’t expect that I will ever forget this film again!
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