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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

@Oznell  Just shrug it off as a  minor annoyance.   We can always work around it, as I worked around D-I-C-K.   A lot of people here say smart azz for example.

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

Great Movies and great actors........"That was when they really knew their craft, and held their audience spell bound and intrigued.........Today unfortunately.... not so much".

 

So many of the great vintage stars will always be remembered for their unbelievable gifted acting,   glorious wonderful singing and dancing talents, and many who were also extremely gifted playing various musical instruments.

 

Watching them come alive again and again on the screen is a great privilege, and one everyone can certainly enjoy.

 

Sadly so many of the vintage gifted actors are gone now, but their talents will always remain here in the archives for everyone to enjoy.

 

Some things just never die, and their numerous various talents will still remain to be viewed and admired, by both young and old, and that is indeed a blessing in itself, as well as a great legacySmiley Happy.

 

Thanks for posting!

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"


@adoreqvc wrote:

Great Movies and great actors........"That was when they really knew their craft, and held their audience spell bound and intrigued.........Today unfortunately.... not so much".

 

So many of the great vintage stars will always be remembered for their unbelievable gifted acting,   glorious wonderful singing and dancing talents, and many who were also extremely gifted playing various musical instruments.

 

 

@adoreqvc, well, there was quite a downside too.  Talking in that overly theatrical voice, faux English, that nobody speaks in.  I find that very annoying and they way they pronounced some words (American actors putting on a very hokey way of speaking that was very fake and theatrical).  I can't stand that in old movies. 

 

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

Right again, cherry!  In "Laura",  Judith Anderson was, let's see, I think she was Laura's aunt (or was she her older cousin or something?).  Along with Clifton Webb and Vincent Price, she was under suspicion because she had a motive to want Laura out of the way-- she was in love with/involved with Vincent Price, who was supposedly enamored of Laura!  Excellent actress-- so austere and menacing as Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca".  In "Laura" she was frosty and self-centered, but as the discarded mistress, she somehow invited sympathy too...

 

Other things I really liked in "Laura"--- the haunting title tune, wonderful Dana Andrews who did his usual understated excellent job as the policeman obsessed with Laura, and Laura's gorgeous New York apartment...

 

 

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

adoreqvc, so true that there was so much talent.  When you mentioned dancing talents, I immediately thought of my hero, Fred Astaire.  An utterly unique talent, and one that he worked on tirelessly throughout his career...

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

I know exactly what you mean, Pearley.  I find that fakey English thing more in the earlier sound pictures, say early Thirties, when there were more classically trained stage actors populating movies.  There was a certain type of American actor who would use the British "veddy" for "very", for example, or even say "teddibly" for terribly.  But that seemed to phase out pretty quickly, and you have distinctive big stars who were undeniably American in speech--  Jimmy Cagney, John Wayne, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, etc.

 

Of course, Cary Grant had that mysterious mid-Atlantic accent because he really was a transplanted Brit, from Bristol, England.  At least he wasn't being pretentious, he had more of a Cockney sound that then merged with some Americanisms-- delightful!

 

But you might have had an idea of particular actors or acting styles that annoy you-- can you think of any?

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

Actually I think Bishop Sheen spoke that way. People used to love him. He was on at the same time Milton Berle  was and he had higher ratings

 

It was just the way people of his age were taught to speak. Once you  listened to him, the dramatic presentation flew out the window, because he was so charismatic, people were mesmerized by what he had to say

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

[ Edited ]

Pearley,

 

I read your reply to me regarding the following" " @adoreqvc, well, there was quite a downside too"

 

Pearley It seems you have completely dismissed very important factors pertaining to your reply to me. 

 

"Those people were actors, and were paid to do as they were instructed".

 

It was their job to act and speak as they did,     because they were told by the Studio Heads to perform a certain way, and that was the final decision".

 

We all have the right to like or dislike how they performed and to voice our own opinions, but those actors did not have that luxury.....It was do as I say and as the part dictates, or risk being sued, or fired, and the studio Heads decided exactly how and what they wanted the general public to view.

 

Fake or not, those vintage actors had to earn a living, and did what they were instructed to do.

 

That is the plain truth about vintage acting, and the same holds true for all actors no matter what parts they portray on television, movie theaters, or on the stage.

 

It is all acting a part, and something they do well, and are paid for their craft...... but only if they follow directions, and wish to remain gainfully employed.  

 

 

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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

not my most favorite genre, but i do have some film noir films that i LOVE......

 

sunset boulevard.....it is hard to believe that gloria swanson was only 51 when she did that movie.

 

mildred pierce.....i can watch this over and over again and never get tired of it.

 

the postman always rings twice.....lana turner.....a classic femme fatale.

 

 

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"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
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Re: Vintage Movies-- Daring Dames and Conflicted Heroes in "Film Noir"

Oznell so many others have and still continue to try to mimic those greats of yester-year, but there was only one Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, one Fred Astair, one  Ginger Rogers, one Gene Kelly, one Cary Grant, one Deborah Kerr, one Mahalia Jackson, one Timi Yuro, One Ethel Merman, One Louie Armstrong, and all of the Big Bands as well as so many others with various gifted talents, who brought musical scores, acting, singing, and dancing in various forms into our lives.

 

I recall being 19 and seeing Duke Ellington perform in person. He was a fantastic gifted talented performer. Simply astounding all the energy he displayed, as well as the love of his profession, and deep admiration and respect for members of his band. That evening I shall always recall with great warmth and admiration, and that evening I had the time of my life, on the dance floor with my dateSmiley Happy

 

I am so glad we can still recall and still view those various great talents, and I truly hope the Studios, Archives, and Library of Congress always keep those treasures available  for the general public to always enjoy.

 

As time passes it is a joy for everyone to view them and take a look back into another era, or see them act for the first time, and understand how vintage talents brought joy into the every day lives, of every day people.

 

All that would not have been possible without also crediting the Studio Writers, and the Musical Genius of many who also contributed scores of music which accompanied all forms of entertainment, offered to the general public.

 

Also we must not forget the  Authors & Writers behind those great Epic scenes from Gone with the Wind, Scarlett, Withering Heights, Ben Hur, Hercules, Spartacus, Samson & Delilah, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Night & Day, An Affair To Remember, and so many others!

 

There were so many gifted individuals who contributed and deserve our praise, admiration, and thanks as well posted credits for all their gracious accomplishments which include not only the actors who played their parts as instructed by the Studio's and may I add they certainly played them very well, but to the Authors who wrote the Epic Stories which came to life on the Silver Screen, and the Singers who sang those songs, and the Dancers who danced their way on to the silver screen. All of which contributed a certain grace and talent which cannot be properly reproduced by today's standards.