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Reflections on the NYFF
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Oct 21, 2012
This year I had the incredible opportunity to work at the New York Film Festival. I have loved being behind-the-scenes and being involved in making things happen since I was young, and it was amazing to be behind-the-scenes with a walkie-talkie at such a prestigious and wonderful film festival. No read more
Supporting Actors: Donald Crisp
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Oct 6, 2012
That fatherly, white-haired man giving good advice? Probably Donald Crisp. Crisp emigrated to Americafrom Englandin 1906 and began acting. He worked on silent films as D.W. Griffith’s assistant director, and from this association, appeared in The Birth of a Nation as General Grant. It was a silent read more
HAPPY 5-0, 007!
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Oct 1, 2012
This year, Albert Broccoli’s James Bond turns 50. The first Broccoli/EON Productions Bond film premiered in London in October 1962, Dr. No, starring Sean Connery. Connery became immortal, but was replaced as Bond 4 films later by George Lazenby. The public outcry (unsubstansiated) forced the read more
Paramount & Barbara Stanwyck
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Sep 28, 2012
Barbara Stanwyck’s first credited role in a film was a Columbia picture, The Locked Door. In the early 1930’s she worked mostly for Columbia, before jumping to Warner Brothers for most of the decade. In 1939 she made her first Paramount Picture, Union Pacific, with Joel McCrea. While she continued read more
What a Character(s): Sam Levene
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Sep 23, 2012
Sam Levene was a character actor who didn’t play one character. He played several. He ranged from Nathan Detroit, the gambler extraordinaire and lover in the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, to the bumbling detective Lt. Abrams in two Thin Man films, to an tired detective Lt. Lubinsk read more
The One Set in the 1970′s
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Sep 10, 2012
In which I try to explain why I just can’t bring myself to be interested in movies made in the 1970’s and 80’s. Interestingly, even before I started this blog, I had seen all of the Best Picture Winners from the previous two decades, the 2000’s and 1990’s. I had seen a few 1980’s, and then read more
An Epic Conclusion
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Sep 3, 2012
As an English major at a liberal arts college, the mantra “so what” was drilled into my head, as the crux of every paper. So why is this important? Why should I care about your argument? What is the larger purpose or application of your argument? So why did I write a lengthy series on epics? I have read more
AFI Top 100/Best Picture Winner 1962: Lawrence of Arabia
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Aug 31, 2012
Without clocking in at 3 hours and 50 minutes, including a 7 minute overture, the story of T.E. Lawrence would lose its impact. Lawrence of Arabia, “another David Lean epic,” took two years of work and was cut from a fabled 5 hours to somewhere over 3. It apparently took longer to make this film read more
We Interrupt This Program… Confinement and Freedom in John Huston’s Night of the Iguana
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Aug 28, 2012
SINCE difficulty of communication between individuals seems to be one of the sadder of human misfortunes that Tennessee Williams is writing about in his play, “The Night of the Iguana,” it is ironical that the film John Huston has made from it has difficulty in communicating, too. At le read more
Best Picture Winner 1959: Ben-Hur
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Aug 23, 2012
There are countless movie reviews on Turner Classic Movies website alone about Ben-Hur. Countless. So I’ve tricked you by titling this post Ben-Hur, when really, I’m much more interested in the Kirk Douglas/Stanley Kubrick vehicle, Spartacus, released the year after Ben-Hur, in retaliation. **Kirk read more
Best Picture Winner 1953: From Here to Eternity
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Aug 15, 2012
Epics are often the most talked about and written about films. They win all the awards. They get all the attention. Everyone knows the folklore surrounding the casting, the tensions on set, who had an affair whom, etc. etc. In researching for this post on From Here to Eternity, I was bored. Every c read more
Best Picture Winner 1930/1931: Cimarron
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Aug 7, 2012
Edna Ferber and Cimarron are not remembered especially fondly, at least in critical circles. Ferber’s New York Times obituary read, “Her books were not profound, but they were vivid and had a sound sociological basis. She was among the best-read novelists in the nation, and critics of the 1920s read more
An Epic New Series
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jul 30, 2012
The definition of an “epic” film is one with a large, sweeping scope, depicting a historical (or mythical) event. It is bigger than a period piece, and sets the story of a hero against the historical backdrop. Critic Tim Dirks describes the recipe for an epic: “extravagant setting and lavish costum read more
Tropes of Women in Film: Lee Remick in Anatomy of a Murder
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jul 25, 2012
Because of the Production Code, films made in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s were strictly censored. The same set of rules that forbade Maxim de Winter from being his wife’s killer also forbade the use of the word “virgin” on screen. Language, especially sexually explicit language, was the most read more
Tropes of Women in Film: Joan Fontaine in Rebecca
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jul 17, 2012
Rebecca wasa Alfred Hitchcock’s only film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was his first American film, and for the role of the unnamed, terrorized narrator, he chose 21-year-old Joan Fontaine. Fontaine was the younger sister of star Olivia de Havilland, but Fontaine had not yet estab read more
We Interrupt This Program… On Hitchcock, Ladies, and The Manchurian Candidate
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jul 11, 2012
What makes a Hitchcock movie a Hitchcock movie? Tales of the Easily Distracted and ClassicBecky’s Brain Food asked that question, in blogathon form. They are hosting The Best Hitchcock Films Hitchcock never made, from July 7-13. My contribution is The Manchurian Candidate. (Make sure to check out read more
Tropes of Women in Film: Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives and Mrs. Miniver
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jul 1, 2012
While at this point, it is probably fairly obvious, but these posts are merely my opinions. My opinions are based in research and study, especially on the topics I write about extensively (Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Buster Keaton, women in film, war on film), but these are still blog posts. Bl read more
Tropes of Women in Film: Bette Davis in The Little Foxes
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jun 23, 2012
Part of the reason we create art is to work out who we are. At the heart of even modern TV and movies is the struggle of a person to become a person. The easiest example is Mad Men. Not just a saucy show about office romances in the 60’s, it is the story of Don Draper becoming a man. Don struggles read more
Best Picture Winner 1955: Marty
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jun 15, 2012
The Third Greatest Love Story in Hollywood 1955 was apparently a weak year for movies. But Marty was its shining star. Produced by Burt Lancaster and Harold Hect and released through United Artists, it was the “indie” film of its day (the studios were still the ruling class), and it won Best Pictu read more
Bogie and Bacall
Spoilers Posted by Duke Mantee on Jun 8, 2012
When 43-year-old Humphrey Bogart first met 19-year-old Lauren Bacall, he was busy filming Passage to Marseille and being noble and not pretending a French accent. He took little notice of her. He passed her on the Warner Brothers lot a few weeks later and took a second look. “That’s your co-star,” read more