I'd love to see The Canterville Ghost. You've probably guessed that I'm a huge fan of the original Oscar Wilde story, which likewise veers around between social satire, lighthearted ghost comedy, and romance, and then takes a hard left into metaphysical "Sweet William's Ghost" territory. It's inconsistent but it does so many things that I love that I wouldn't change it for the world.
I should warn you that while I have not read the original novella, I know it has to differ in some substantial ways from the 1944 film simply because Wilde couldn't have set his story during World War II. Therefore I have no idea what you'll think of it, but it does have Charles Laughton as a ghost.
(The film was directed by Jules Dassin, who is best known for the brutal, classic noirs Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948) and the French-language Rififi (1955), the archetype of all heist films. Naturally, I discovered him first with his light comedy—The Canterville Ghost and A Letter for Evie (1946), a lovely little retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac that I wish were available on DVD. Eventually I'll get around to Never on Sunday (1960), which is the one with the international hit song.)
That movie pulled its punches. Practically everything in it is a hot-button issue dressed up in period clothes, and the filmmakers wimped out on addressing any of the questions they raised. I'm still mad at them.
Could I ask you for a more detailed explanation? I know both some of the history and the general outline of the film.
(One of the members of "They Might Be Giants" said that "Particle Man" was inspired by another member's saying that when Robert Mitchum takes his shirt off in that movie, he looks like an evil triangle.)
What, seriously? I think that crossed a wire in my brain.
I'll watch it one day, but I want to make sure I'll have company as I know it will upset me.
I'll very gladly watch it again with you, if you like.
no subject
Amen, sister.
I'd love to see The Canterville Ghost. You've probably guessed that I'm a huge fan of the original Oscar Wilde story, which likewise veers around between social satire, lighthearted ghost comedy, and romance, and then takes a hard left into metaphysical "Sweet William's Ghost" territory. It's inconsistent but it does so many things that I love that I wouldn't change it for the world.
I should warn you that while I have not read the original novella, I know it has to differ in some substantial ways from the 1944 film simply because Wilde couldn't have set his story during World War II. Therefore I have no idea what you'll think of it, but it does have Charles Laughton as a ghost.
(The film was directed by Jules Dassin, who is best known for the brutal, classic noirs Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948) and the French-language Rififi (1955), the archetype of all heist films. Naturally, I discovered him first with his light comedy—The Canterville Ghost and A Letter for Evie (1946), a lovely little retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac that I wish were available on DVD. Eventually I'll get around to Never on Sunday (1960), which is the one with the international hit song.)
That movie pulled its punches. Practically everything in it is a hot-button issue dressed up in period clothes, and the filmmakers wimped out on addressing any of the questions they raised. I'm still mad at them.
Could I ask you for a more detailed explanation? I know both some of the history and the general outline of the film.
(One of the members of "They Might Be Giants" said that "Particle Man" was inspired by another member's saying that when Robert Mitchum takes his shirt off in that movie, he looks like an evil triangle.)
What, seriously? I think that crossed a wire in my brain.
I'll watch it one day, but I want to make sure I'll have company as I know it will upset me.
I'll very gladly watch it again with you, if you like.