Catherine Deneuve, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" TCM 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

2:00 p.m. Eastern-- I know there are devotees here of "Umbrellas", the musical film that brought the glorious young beauty Catherine Deneuve to international stardom in 1964. Hoping it is in sub-titles, and not badly dubbed.

This seems to be "international film Oscars day" on TCM, as all the selections are foreign films. A few others of note:

4:00 p.m. Eastern-- "Day for Night"-- 1973. Celebrated French director Francois Truffaut's treatment of the film world, which depicts life on a movie set, and the travails of director and actor alike. Has Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Won buckets of awards, as Truffaut films tended to do.

6:00 p.m. Eastern-- "Babette's Feast"-- 1987 Based on the famous Isak Dinesen story.

I have word-of-mouth that this is a magnificent movie, with comic and bittersweet elements. A very discerning friend loved it, as did all the critics. Danish sisters with convoluted pasts take in "Babette" who offers to cook for them, and cooks up a marvel of a meal, among other things...

8:00 p.m. Eastern-- "La Strada"-- 1954. I love Fellini! What other director has had his name enter the language as an adjective, as in "Felliniesque" to describe anything that is sort of surrealistic and full of fantasy.

That said, this heart-breaker is not for everyone. It tells the story of a hapless young woman, "Gelsomina" (brilliantly played by the eternal waif Giulietta Massina) who falls under the power of a controlling circus performer, Anthony Quinn. The third member of the triangle is another performer, played by another American actor, Richard Basehart (who made a number of Italian films in his wonderfully varied career).

Even a few minutes of this movie is enough to reveal the magic of Giulietta Massina-- a truly one-of-a-kind actress. A few minutes is usually all I can take, it is so poignant.

judy0330 · ‎01-03-2011

Thanks so much for posting! LOVE LOVE LOVE Umbrellas -- and like you -- hope it is the original version with subtitles.

golding76 · ‎05-19-2012

Federico Fellini, my favorite director of all time! So many wonderful and warm memories associated with viewing his work, too. As a groundbreaking director, Fellini, at times, produced celluloid that seemed to be a fusion of MGM spectaculars in all their Technicolor glory and Freud. Right up my alley! Then there were his stark black and white works that exposed the emptiness of life for the modern man.

His sobriquet, "Il Maestro," says it all.