Lana Turner in The Bad And The Beautiful, Vincente Minnelli, 1952.
Because before one rewatches Two Weeks In Another Town, one must rewatch The Bad And The Beautiful. That’s the way it works around these parts, anyway.
While I am full of grand ambitions for posting—yes, I still have to address the issue of Social Responsibility In The Arts, and intend to—the impending deep freeze and a death in my circle (the father of a very old and very dear friend) are likely, I can tell already, to put a crimp in my productivity over the next 48 hours or thereabouts; so I thought to give you something else to look and and think on in the meantime.
Sorry about your friend’s father.
My favorite part about BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL is still Gloria Grahame. Then again, she was often my favorite part of movies I saw with her in it (we had THE BIG HEAT on in the store today for the zillionth time).
So sorry for your loss, Glenn.
I’m sorry about your friend’s father, Glenn.
But what a bone you’ve thrown us. Ah, Lana. That’s beautiful, and shows the depth of her acting in this picture. (Yes, you read that right; she’s really, genuinely good.)
You know, Siren, I chose that image not-quite-randomly, but largely for its pictorial beauty, as the guy in “The Shining” says. Sitting down and rewatching the film, though, I saw again that this image comes at a rather pivotal moment in the film, one that has a lot of resonance for me, and had particular resonance for me this weekend. Rather like the shot of Leonardo DiCaprio taking that belt of whiskey before going into the backyard and discovering the horror that his family’s life has become in “Shutter Island,” which I first saw a year ago last Thursday. Funny how these coincidences crop up…
And yes, Lana’s great in the movie. I think her performance is particularly strong, neck and neck with Grahame and the understated, underrated Walter Pidgeon.
Sorry to be seriously O/T, but R.I.P. for the great composer John Barry:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/31/film.composer.dies/index.html?hpt=T2
Sorry for your loss, Glenn.
I recently saw TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN which I was surprised to find was rather… Felliniesque!? I’d be interested to read your thoughts on the film whenever you can get to it, whether it’s a simple comment or a full post.
Haven’t seen TWO WEEKS since Tony Williams’ melodrama class at SIU; glad to know it’s finally available on DVD. Loooove THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL – all props to Minelli and crew (Robert Surtees was incredible).
I second your Walter Pidgeon shout-out. Silly Motion Picture Academy – not that he wasn’t fine in MRS. MINIVER and MADAME CURIE, but that’s it? I’d have nominated him for THE RACK and ADVISE & CONSENT at the very least.