tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post2365607526624167107..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Their Own DesireSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-44026542171394672662015-12-14T18:44:45.685-06:002015-12-14T18:44:45.685-06:00Agree completely. One of the most interesting thin...Agree completely. One of the most interesting things about films from 1929 and 1930 is that transition from silent to sound. Sometimes it was made seamlessly, and other times, as here, it was a bumpy transition, indeed.<br /><br />It took most people a couple of years to figure out that they weren't really on stage and that they could be a lot more subtle. Of course, some actors didn't figure that out until the 1940s...<br /><br />I've yet to see <i>Trespasser</i> and <i>Anna Christie</i>. In fact, I've yet to see Shearer's winning performance in <i>The Divorcee</i>. Good to know they're worth looking forward to. <br /><br />Sadly, of the others from this year I've seen, Garbo's <i>Romance</i> is the leading contender. This, believe it or not, was better than both <i>The Devil's Holiday</i> and <i>Sarah and Son</i>, or at least on the same level. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-18733675975211800282015-12-13T17:10:41.757-06:002015-12-13T17:10:41.757-06:00I think this overripe twaddle is a near perfect ex...I think this overripe twaddle is a near perfect example of the bumpy transition from silents to sound. You can see all the actors struggling to adjust to the new technology whether they are veteran performers like Shearer and Belle Bennett or newbies like Montgomery was at the time. Norma is over emphatic, perhaps not to the extant of Bennett but she's playing to the back row nonetheless, whereas Bob Montgomery is practically on top of people when he speaks seeming more like he's on the attack than any sort of ardency. In fairness to him he's not the only one with a case of the snugglies so perhaps it was a requirement of the primitive sound equipment that the players had to be practically on top of one another, still it's distracting. <br /><br />There's other signs as well of the whole enterprise feeling its way from one era to another, the use of title cards for scene changes harks back to silent technique breaking whatever flow the picture managed to have. The smoothest scenes and effective moments are the ones that don't require dialog both in the set pieces and the actor's performances. <br /><br />I couldn't believe this was one of Shearer's nominations, this being one of those weird years where she beat herself, I thought she was fine in her speechless moments but they were too few and far between interlaced with much clutching of pearls. I haven't seen all her competitors but both Garbo in either of her films and Swanson in The Trespasser were better than she in either of her competing pictures.<br /><br />Despite the shortness of its running time I barely made it through and it's definitely one film that I would never put myself through watching again.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-24325123018587605922014-05-05T19:57:42.492-05:002014-05-05T19:57:42.492-05:00Pretty much the only parts I've seen are the L...Pretty much the only parts I've seen are the Laurel and Hardy bits. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do about those missing films.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-83787283207751823092014-05-05T19:54:37.272-05:002014-05-05T19:54:37.272-05:00Also from this era: The Rogue's Song features ...Also from this era: The Rogue's Song features an Oscar nominated performance from Lawrence Tibbet from 1930. I know this is a "missing" film. I'm not sure how many other movies with Oscar nominated performances are missing. I only know about The Rogue's Song because it features supporting parts for Laurel and Hardy (Which I'm guessing is the main reason to see it, if you could) . I think there are parts of this available on YouTube, but not much. 1001: A Film Odyssey is produced, directed and written by Chris, a librarian.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04803620768028761898noreply@blogger.com