FOOLISH WIVES (1922), GREED (1924)

Erich Von Stoheim as the sharply dressed

heart-breaker in Foolish Wives

Foolish Wives

The reputation of maybe the two most famous films (though not necessarily most seen) of Erich Von Stroheim are that of the epic masterpieces that were cut to death by the studio and made almost incomprehensible. Foolish Wives was originally over six hours in length and tells the story of a con man (played by Stroheim) in Monte Carlo who takes advantage of rich women in Monte Carlo. You can really see some of the expense of the picture on the screen with scenery and extras and even in cut form, the plot of the film does flow well enough. There are some moments that do seem to be missing (including the death of Von Stroheim's character) but it is worth seeing for its historical value or if you feel you need to see at least one film from the maestro.

The final act of a selfish man

in Greed

Greed

Even more infamous for being cut down to size is Von Stroheim's Greed, which is based on Frank Norris's novel, McTeague. This film was originally over eight hours long...but it kept getting cut and cut and cut...until it was between two and four hours, depending on which version you find. Apparently, there were side stories originally in the film (sounds like Intolerance) that went along with the main story of a dentist's slow descent into greed that are lost to history. To make it harder on myself, the version I found on YouTube to watch had French subtitles-which did indeed make it harder on my viewing. The desert finale is still a fine conclusion and reminiscent of the endings of later classics The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Good,The Bad and The Ugly.

 So long...

THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929)

 Bessie Love and Anita Page are too swell

kids trying to hit the big time in The Broadway Melody

The Broadway Melody (1929) is the first all-talking picture to win the Best Picture Academy Award..but I don't think this story of a couple of young musical sister starlet wannabees would be any film buff's choice for the top movie prize of that year. It is clunky in the manner of many of the early talkies and certainly doesn't compare favorably with the later Warner Brother's classics of this ilk like 42nd Street (1933) or Gold Diggers of 1933. 

However, it isn't without some retrospective charm. Anita Page and Bessie Love as the sisters aren't Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler, but they are fairly engaging in their own right. The behind the scenes story is a bit silly (as all the plots in these musicals seem to be to a degree), we do hear Give My Regards to Broadway a few too many times for my taste and some of the comic bits do fall a bit flat...so it's a mixed bag. But if you're a Best Picture completest (I guess I fall into that category), just relax and try enjoy this artifact like you're Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail or the like if that helps.

For further historical context, I also recommend The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926-1930 by Scott Eyman.

 

"Don't be such a crab!" An altercation

at auditions in The Broadway Melody

POLTERGEIST (1982), THE THING (1982)

1982

 
Poltergeist

I first remember seeing Poltergeist at the theater during the summer it was released in 1982. It seemed like a big deal at the time...ghosts…a haunted house…and lots of cool special effects. And I have good memories of this film, but that was quite a few summers ago. I’ve never seen it all the way through since and have never seen any of the sequels or remakes. So, I went into watching this with good memories and high expectations....But in watching it again, I thought though it had a lot of the right elements of a ghostly thrill ride, I didn't find that it dated particularly all that well. I don't find it nearly as good as the 60’s The Haunting, for example. It does have the great tag line “They’re here!” a likeable cast, some interesting special effects including a nifty scene where one of the ghost hunters is thinking his face is melting in a mirror. The scene with the corpses popping out of the ground during the finale is pretty good, too. It just feels a little bit like Spielberg lite…which, since it is produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, it probably is. It just didn’t get me all that involved this time around. .The excessive product placement didn’t help get me in the mood either.Maybe I’m just not the audience for this movie anymore. 

I’m not unhappy that I saw it…but I just don’t see myself watching it again.

 The Thing

I first remember seeing John Carpenter’s The Thing on cable  the year it came out. I honestly don’t remember much about it other than Kurt Russell and a band of scientists are in The Arctic fighting aliens. I actually have more vivid memories of the original The Thing from 1951 featuring James Arness as our scary Arctic alien.Watching the Carpenter film now, I think it looks very good all these years later. Not a hit when it was first released, it has deservedly become a classic of the genre. Our band of Arctic macho men are being taken over by an alien force that has been buried in Ice for thousands of years and uncovered by another band of explorers (Damn Norweigians!). Our Icebound band of brothers are taken over one by one and it gives the film an Invasion of the Body Snatchers feel of who can you trust and who do you need to kill...and can you even trust the dog? It is suspenseful, the plot (based on the story by John W. Campbell) is involving and the makeup and special effects are pretty spectacular when you consider this movie is thirty-five years old. 

I'm happy that I saw it. I definitely see myself watching this one again.

 Happy Halloween!

1001 MOVIES REMAINING...

Looking at the updated 1001 list including all the editions and changes, I count 1,198 movies total. I see 1,199 on some lists, but I'm not sure how I lost a movie somewhere. Anyway, by my count I still have 251 movies left to see and it means I've seen...a lot. No time to dawdle or do the math, I've still got movies to see!

 Most definitely 1,198 movies on the list...251 left to go....definitely

seen 947 movies. Some are excellent and a few suck like K-Mart.

1001 LIST MOVIES LEFT TO VIEW

                              1.            Les Vampires (1915)

                              2.            Dr. Mabuse, Parts 1 and 2 (1922)

                              3.            The Wheel (1923)

                              4.            The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

                              5.            The Great White Silence (1925)

                              6.            The Big Parade (1925)

                              7.            The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

                              8.            Napoleon (1927)

                              9.            A Throw of Dice (1929)

                          10.            Tabu (1931)

                          11.            Limite (1931)

                          12.            Triumph of the Will (1934)

                          13.            The Goddess (1934)

                          14.            Song at Midnight (1937)

                          15.            Olympia, Part I (1938)

                          16.            Olympia, Part II (1938)

                          17.            The Baker's Wife (1938)

                          18.            Daybreak (1939)

                          19.            Los Olvidados (1950)

                          20.            Pather Panchali (1955)

                          21.            Aparajito (1957)

                          22.            Mother India (1957)

                          23.            The Hole (1960)

                          24.            Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

                          25.            The Young One (1960)

                          26.            The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)

                          27.            The Housemaid (1960)

                          28.            Lola (1961)

                          29.            Viridiana (1961)

                          30.            The Ladies Man (1961)

                          31.            Chronicle of a Summer (1961)

                          32.            The Exiles (1961)

                          33.            A Dog's Life (1962)

                          34.            Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)

                          35.            Keeper of Promises (1962)

                          36.            The Exterminating Angel (1962)

                          37.            The Nutty Professor (1963)

                          38.            The Cool World (1963)

                          39.            Passenger (1963)

                          40.            Barren Lives (1963)

                          41.            Mediteranee (1963)

                          42.            An Actor's Revenge (1963)

                          43.            The Servant (1963)

                          44.            Before the Revolution (1964)

                          45.            The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

                          46.            Black God, White Devil (1964)

                          47.            Tokyo Olympiad (1965)

                          48.            The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)

                          49.            Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

                          50.            The Golden Thread (1965)

                          51.            The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (1965)

                          52.            Belle de Jour (1967)

                          53.            The Red and the White (1967)

                          54.            The Fireman's Ball (1967)

                          55.            Earth Entranced (1967)

                          56.            Vij (1967)

                          57.            The Cow (1968)

                          58.            If… (1968)

                          59.            Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)

                          60.            My Night with Maud (1969)

                          61.            Lucia (1969)

                          62.            High School (1969)

                          63.            In the Year of the Pig (1969)

                          64.            Andrei Rublev (1969)

                          65.            Kes (1969)

                          66.            Deep End (1970)

                          67.            The Spider's Stratagem (1970)

                          68.            The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)

                          69.            W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)

                          70.            Murmur of the Heart (1971)

                          71.            Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

                          72.            Straw Dogs (1971)

                          73.            Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

                          74.            The Devils (1971)

                          75.            The Hired Hand (1971)

                          76.            Wake in Fright (1971)

                          77.            Red Psalm (1972)

                          78.            The Heartbreak Kid (1972)

                          79.            Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

                          80.            Last Tango in Paris (1972)

                          81.            Sleuth (1972)

                          82.            Fat City (1972)

                          83.            The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

                          84.            The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)

                          85.            Pink Flamingos (1972)

                          86.            The Mother and the Whore (1973)

                          87.            Papillon (1973)

                          88.            The Wicker Man (1973)

                          89.            Turkish Delight (1973)

                          90.            The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

                          91.            Amarcord (1973)

                          92.            The Mirror (1974)

                          93.            Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

                          94.            Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

                          95.            The Wall (1975)

                          96.            Fox and His Friends (1975)

                          97.            India Song (1975)

                          98.            Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

                          99.            Manila in the Claws of Brightness (1975)

                      100.            Cria! (1975)

                      101.            1900 (1976)

                      102.            Last Chants for a Slow Dance (1977)

                      103.            Man of Marble (1977)

                      104.            Killer of Sheep (1977)

                      105.            Ceddo (1977)

                      106.            The American Friend (1977)

                      107.            Soldier of Orange (1977)

                      108.            Sleeping Dogs (1977)

                      109.            The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)

                      110.            Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

                      111.            Shaolin Master Killer (1978)

                      112.            The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

                      113.            Real Life (1979)

                      114.            Stalker (1979)

                      115.            The Tin Drum (1979)

                      116.            The Muppet Movie (1979)

                      117.            Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)

                      118.            Loulou (1980)

                      119.            Three Brothers (1981)

                      120.            Man of Iron (1981)

                      121.            Too Early, Too Late (1981)

                      122.            Diva (1981)

                      123.            The Thing (1982)

                      124.            Poltergeist (1982)

                      125.            Yol (1982)

                      126.            Diner (1982)

                      127.            Gandhi (1982)

                      128.            The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982)

                      129.            A Question of Silence (1982)

                      130.            The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

                      131.            El Norte (1983)

                      132.            Sunless (1983)

                      133.            The Last Battle (1983)

                      134.            L’Argent (1983)

                      135.            Utu (1983)

                      136.            The Fourth Man (1983)

                      137.            Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

                      138.            Scarface (1983)

                      139.            Local Hero (1983)

                      140.            Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

                      141.            A Passage to India (1984)

                      142.            The Killing Fields (1984)

                      143.            Come and See (1985)

                      144.            The Official Story (1985)

                      145.            The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)

                      146.            Shoah (1985)

                      147.            She's Gotta Have It (1986)

                      148.            The Decline of the American Empire (1986)

                      149.            Children of a Lesser God (1986)

                      150.            Caravaggio (1986)

                      151.            Peking Opera Blues (1986)

                      152.            Salvador (1986)

                      153.            The Horse Thief (1986)

                      154.            Brightness (1987)

                      155.            Wings of Desire (1987)

                      156.            Raising Arizona (1987)

                      157.            Goodbye Children (1987)

                      158.            Broadcast News (1987)

                      159.            Housekeeping (1987)

                      160.            A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)

                      161.            Wall Street (1987)

                      162.            Ariel (1988)

                      163.            Cinema Paradiso (1988)

                      164.            Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)

                      165.            A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

                      166.            The Decalogue (1988)

                      167.            A Tale of the Wind (1988)

                      168.            The Story of Women (1988)

                      169.            The Accidental Tourist (1988)

                      170.            Alice (1988)

                      171.            Dead Ringers (1988)

                      172.            Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

                      173.            Drowning by Numbers (1988)

                      174.            My Left Foot (1989)

                      175.            Roger & Me (1989)

                      176.            Glory (1989)

                      177.            The Asthenic Syndrome (1989)

                      178.            The Unbelievable Truth (1989)

                      179.            A City of Sadness (1989)

                      180.            Tetsuo (1989)

                      181.            No Fear, No Die (1990)

                      182.            Europa Europa (1990)

                      183.            Archangel (1990)

                      184.            Trust (1990)

                      185.            Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

                      186.            A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

                      187.            Naked Lunch (1991)

                      188.            The Rapture (1991)

                      189.            My Own Private Idaho (1991)

                      190.            Tongues Untied (1991)

                      191.            Romper Stomper (1992)

                      192.            A Tale of Winter (1992)

                      193.            The Actress (1992)

                      194.            Thirty Two Films about Glenn Gould (1993)

                      195.            The Age of Innocence (1993)

                      196.            The Puppetmaster (1993)

                      197.            The Blue Kite (1993)

                      198.            Hoop Dreams (1994)

                      199.            Satantango (1994)

                      200.            Natural Born Killers (1994)

                      201.            Dear Diary (1994)

                      202.            The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

                      203.            Braveheart (1995)

                      204.            Zero Kelvin (1995)

                      205.            Cyclo (1995)

                      206.            Underground (1995)

                      207.            The Brave Heart Will Take the Bride (1995)

                      208.            The Pillow Book (1996)

                      209.            Three Lives and Only One Death (1996)

                      210.            Secrets and Lies (1996)

                      211.            The English Patient (1996)

                      212.            Kundun (1997)

                      213.            Hana-Bi (1997)

                      214.            The Celebration (1998)

                      215.            Buffalo 66 (1998)

                      216.            Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

                      217.            Happiness (1998)

                      218.            The Idiots (1998)

                      219.            There's Something About Mary (1998)

                      220.            Taboo (1999)

                      221.            The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)

                      222.            The Audition (1999)

                      223.            Time Regained (1999)

                      224.            Attack the Gas Station! (1999)

                      225.            The Captive (2000)

                      226.            Meet the Parents (2000)

                      227.            Signs and Wonders (2000)

                      228.            Traffic (2000)

                      229.            Dancer in the Dark (2000)

                      230.            What Time Is It Over There? (2001)

                      231.            Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

                      232.            Kandahar (2001)

                      233.            Moulin Rouge (2001)

                      234.            The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

                      235.            Lantana (2001)

                      236.            The Pianist (2002)

                      237.            Bowling for Columbine (2002)

                      238.            Bus 174 (2002)

                      239.            Uzak (2002)

                      240.            The Two Towers (2002)

                      241.            Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

                      242.            The Best of Youth (2003)

                      243.            Lost in Translation (2003)

                      244.            Elephant (2003)

                      245.            The Return of the King (2003)

                      246.            Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

                      247.            The Passion of the Christ (2004)

                      248.            A Very Long Engagement (2004)

                      249.            Head-On (2004)

                      250.            I, Daniel Blake (2016)

                      251.            13^th (2016)

Times running out...I don't want to relive some

of the movies on the list I've already seen

and where does this end exactly?