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Archives for March 2010

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“Rain is Lucky for Us ….”

Here on the East Coast, it is raining cats and dogs. This morning as I lay in bed amidst the torrential downpour, I am reminded of one of my all time favorite rainy-day movies, From this Day Forward (AKA All Brides are Beautiful). I previously mentioned it in my 24 Hour Birthday marathon and in my belated b-day wishes to Joan Fontaine, the star of the film.

For a synopsis of the film, I gladly defer to the TCM Movie Database, powered by the American Film Institute (AFI).

The reasons it makes such a great film for weather like this are as follows:

  1. It stars Joan Fontaine!
  2. The narrative structure is somewhat centered on the theme of a NYC downpour (hence the title of this entry)
  3. For a slightly younger person such as myself, it is cool seeing a pre-M.A.S.H. Henry Morgan

The one problem that I see is … where to find a copy of the movie. I have it on an old VHS tape but have been searching for it on DVD; this is all I have been able to come up with so far on Amazon.com:

From This Day Forward [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import – France ]; in other words, if you have a multi-region DVD player – have a blast!

So on a day when I lost ANOTHER earring and I arrived at work soaked and would LOVE to be cuddled up in my bed with hot cocoa, thinking about this film brightens up my day just enough.

P.S. Your feedback is welcomed – What is YOUR favorite “rainy day” film?

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Movie Selection: The Snake Pit (1948) Starring Olivia de Havilland

Olivia deHavilland is one of my favorite actresses. While I was in high school I made it a personal goal to watch every film in her filmography. So far I am steady at 22 feature films. For me, of that set, one of her finest (if not the finest) performances is that of Virginia Cunnigham in Anatole Litvak’s The Snake Pit.

The audience is first introduced to Virginia when she has been recently hospitalized by her husband after suffering a nervous breakdown. We soon discover that the source of her breakdown is rooted in a series of events from the distant and recent past culminating in her recent episode.

The layers of her psyche are peeled away with the aid Doctor “Kik” (portrayed by Leo Genn) and his us he of psychotherapy.

There are many reasons to like this film in addition to merely being a fan of the lead actress. After doing a little research I discovered that this film shed light on the conditions of mental hospitals and consequently helped usher in reforms in many state mental health institutions. So it worked on a level beyond that of mere entertainment

With all the praise and the pleasure I have in watching the film, I must provide this caveat: by today’s standards some of the ideas about what may aid in “curing” Virginia may come across as partially laughable.

My favorite scenes: Ward 33 the shot showing Virginia in the “pit” and also nearer to the end the scene at the dance and the patient singing “I’m Going Home.”

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Blondes in Film (w/ Focus on Hitchcock)

The slideshow featured in the Guardian(UK) is an extension of  the film festival titled “Birds Eye View” and in particular the BFI’s Blonde Crazy season which is a complementary piece to the festival. One theme that was highlighted during this season at the BFI involved taking a look at Alfred Hitchcock’s Blonde. A featured presenter during this festival/season was Laura Mulvey, who composed the seminal essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema in 1975 and is a leading authority in feminist film theory.

Here is a video from the BFI which offers a little more insight in to the Blonde Crazy season:

As I previously stated I am very interested in the aspect of this piece that primarily deals with Alfred Hitchcock. For those interested in academically studying this topic I promise that it is very fascinating.

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