| His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|07:03 pm] |
I really should have created a Ben Hecht tag.
This one always puts me in a good mood. I love old Hollywood class and cynicism. The America in it is corrupt and theiving and fun. I like when Grant and Hildey are on the phones drowning each other out. the way the voices overlap.
I like the silence when they show the gallows. The use of shadow. The certainty of death and the cold detachment of the reporters who just want the story. What fun. |
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| Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) |
[Mar. 21st, 2006|03:31 pm] |
Westerns are an eternal blind spot for me. I just don't quite *get* westerns. I've seen The Searchers and My Darling Clemintine but...meh. Even when I saw The Seven Samurai I disliked it for it's western-ish elements.
Anyway, the main order of business is this: Dean Martin plays an alcoholic gunslinger. This is about toughness and brotherly love, but in the middle of the most tense scene all the men break out into song.
It's pretty funny.
Hawks does a good job of showing the town as an exotic, dangerous place with his dolly cam. Also points scored for portrayal of the short Mexican hotel/saloon keeper. Sometimes stereotyping is so well executed that it ceases to be questionable. Amazing. |
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