1940's Hall Of Fame Part I

I have 4 watches and 2 rewatches left. Under control!

Sorry Neiba, I knew you were steady Eddieing it with Raul. Thanks.

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Got a copy of Rope from the library (rewatch) and will watching Murderers Among Us on dailymotion and the HARD part; deciding on an order of which I like

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I agree that the order is by far the hardest part. I'm really bad at making ranked lists. I don't think I'd ever be able to do a Top 100 Films list, or anything like that.

I don't even have a Top 10. It's just 10 films I rather like at the moment that I was able to think of reasonably quickly haha.

Welcome to the club I had a super hard time with doing my voting list, as the noms were so good.

BTW I'm glad you two joined you're both fun members and hope to see you both in the 12th HoF!

I'm glad you both posted about that So why did Myra (Vivian Leigh) kill herself instead of just telling Roy (Robert Taylor) that she had been a prostitute?

Simple answer: the movie wouldn't be as memorable without the suicide ending, and I wouldn't have nominated it.

Production stand point answer: Myra had to commit suicide in order for the movie to pass the Motion Picture Production 'Hays' Code. If it didn't pass, it wouldn't be shown.

At that time prostitution couldn't be shown as having any positive results, so Myra has to commit suicide. Also that's probably why she was British and not an American, like she was in the original play and original pre-code film Waterloo Bridge (1931). That film was banned from being shown in the U.S after 1934.

In universe if the characters were real): Myra is a tragic figure, she's fatalistic and has little hope for a better life, Roy says this to her several times. It's only when she falls in love with him, that she's truly happy. When she believes Roy is dead, she's numb and doesn't care if she lives or dies. When he comes back from the war, she's so full of guilt from having been a prostitute that she can't bear the pain, she feels worthless... and being fatalistic she can't see that there could be light at the end of her tunnel.

When she's on the bridge she's demoralized, but not suicidal. She's not leaning over the bridge or standing on the railing. It's only when the speeding trucks go by that she impulsively decides to end her pain. What makes this doubly sad is that Roy is in the cab with Kitty looking for her and when he finds out she's been a prostitute....he says with a calm face and kind voice, 'I'll always be looking for her.'

He would have forgiven her, and that makes her story all the more sad.

THANKS. I actually have a movie chosen for HOF 12 in mind.

And I didn't even consider the production reason regarding the taboo of prostitution with the Hays prudes. Heaven forbid a girl keeping soldiers happy for a price finds happiness. . .

I also forgot to mention her fatalist attitude when it came to the abrupt decision at the end - nicely explained.

I've been driving my wife nuts talking about what movie I should choose for the 12th Seriously! I really love these Hofs

I didn't want to say much about the ending of Waterloo Bridge (1931) but it's much different that this one. It's a good film too.

being PRE-Hays I'm rather curious about that one. Especially with Whale (Frankenstein) directing and I see Bette Davis is in it, too. Is she the best friend, by any chance?

Bette Davis has a small role in it, she's not Kitty the best friend. It's been awhile, but I believe Bette is the rich, snobby sister of Roy. Mae Clarke is Myra, she does a good job at it too. Her Myra is more hard boiled and cynical.

very cool, I'll hafta check it out

I watched all the movies, but I haven't had the time to write about all of them yet. (Heck, I've barely had time to read what other people wrote about them here.) But I can send my list in before doing my write-ups if necessary.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

I've never read the novel this film was based on, but somehow I had heard about the controversy surrounding the author: how he wasn't who he had claimed to be, and that the events he wrote about in the book were not his own authentic experiences. Knowing this going into the film adaptation, it fortunately had no impact on my enjoyment of the story. The events of the film or book do not need to be true in order to have an impact on the audience anyway, and How Green Was My Valley was very effective at engaging the audience and eliciting sympathy for its cast of characters and the hardships they endure over the course of the film.

Occasionally the score was too loud for the dialogue, particularly in the opening scenes, but for most of the movie it was fine. Even though the film was set in a Welsh village, not many of the actors managed passable accents. Welsh is a difficult dialect to replicate though, and since the actors gave solid performances, it didn't really bother me after that initial shock of hearing them. The cinematography was beautiful, and the sets looked amazing, which more than makes up for those few nitpicky complaints I have about the film.

I think it was Daniel who said earlier in the thread that Ford manages to pack a lot of detail into his shots, and I definitely agree. I think it was particularly effective whenever the camera looked up the hill with the coal mine in the background. I could sit here all afternoon pointing out shots that I loved, so I'll just pick one for now, and that's where Gruffydd stands in shadow between two trees behind the Church just as Angharad is leaving. This was a very visually striking film, and a great nomination.

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there are QUITE a number of amazing shots in that movie. And like you said, far too many to name.

Did not know about the controversy regarding the author; thank you - don't change the enjoyment of the film but a fun fact still

For anyone who hasn't seen these.

Rope
Sun, Jan 01 ~ 6:00 AM ~ TCM

Shadow of a Doubt
Mon, Jan 02 ~ 12:15 AM ~ TCM

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2 watches and 3 rematches left, but like I said struggling to find sources to finish. Not that I won't, but it really has been giving me fits.

which ones you trying to find, Raul?

Raul needed to find:

Thief of Bagdad
Little Foxes
Shadow of a Doubt
Arsenic and Old Lace

(unless he's already found some links)....I was going to look this morning for links.

I sent him links for them all but i haven't heard back if they were good or not. He was also looking for Rope.

Hopefully Raul saw this. It turned into a Hitchcock marathon for a good 24 hours and fifteen minutes. It ends at 6:15 in the morning. I'll be back then to do my reviews. I just can't stop watching these things. I can also only pause for 25 minutes with this cable service/package, so I need to get gone. They're going to kill me in the Christmas marathon thread.