At first glance these films don’t share that much in common, however if you dig a little deeper there are some areas of similarity, enough to make this a dream double bill and my contribution to the Lana Turner blog a thon.
For me the main area of similarity is of family, mothers, aspirations for children and the sadness in the child and the mother, I’m thinking specifically here of Sarah Jane and Annie Johnson in ‘Imitation of Life’ and Hans and his mother in ‘The Merchant of Four Seasons’. In both films Sarah Jane and Hans have absent fathers, fathers we never see on screen and both parents have aspirations for their child; Sarah Jane’s’ mother does not want her to be a singer/dancer in a burlesque club and Hans’ mother did not want him to join the foreign legion nor we sense is she happy that he is a fruit seller. Both children, perhaps chose these routes as escape and both children are unhappy and of course both films end in tragedy. It is the endings of these films that set them apart and for me make them and ideally paring.
In addition the influence of Sirk on Fassbinder has been well documented. Here Douglas Sirk recalls his meeting with Fassbinder:
Lugano, usually flooded with sunshine, was covered with snow when a group of young Germans, bundled up in overcoats and fighting an icy wind, trudged up the difficult road to my front door. “It’s us,” he said “Rainer Werner Fassbinder and a couple of my friends.” My wife and I have unforgettable memories of the hours that lay ahead.
We discussed art and literature, theatre and cinema, until the wee hours of the morning. For some reason I no longer recall, I began to speak of classical Spanish theater, mentioning the extraordinary productivity of Calderon and of Lope de Vega, to whom his contemporaries attributed a thousand plays; Calderon, had I think, gotten to about half that number. And of all this work, I told my guests, had been created with the strictest adherence to formal language and style. To make a long story short, Rainer who had listened to me attentively, suddenly said, “I would like to be as prolific as they were.” As we know now, those words were not merely the expression of desire.
What I didn't know was that 'The Merchant of Four Seasons' was the first film Fassbinder made after discovering Sirk. "My encounter with Sirk," he [Fassbinder] would say later, "removed the fear I had of 'selling out.'...Sirk gave me the courage to make films for the public. Before that I believed that serious work meant shunning the Hollywood model.
Quotes from 'Love is Colder Than Death' by Robert Katz and Peter Berling, Paladin, 1989.
IMDB entry for Imitation of Life, link.
IMDB entry for The Merchant of Four Seassons, link.
Imitations of Lifelessness, article from Bright Lights Film Journal by Stephen Handzo, link.
Today is the anniversary of Lana Turner's death. IMDB entry for Lana Turner, link.
Self styled siren's post on Lana Turner, link.
Peter Nellhaus on 'The Sea Chase', link.
Flickhead's Memo on Turner, link.
Micheal Guillen's The Evening Class post on Lana Turner, link.
That Little Round Headed Boy on 'Somewhere I'll Find You', link.
Greenbriar Picture Shows tribute to Lana Turner, link.
Agence Eureka's images of Lana Turner, link.
Self styled siren's post on Sandra Dee, costar with Lana Turner in 'Peyton Place' and 'Imitation of Life', link.
29 June 2006
28 June 2006
Film and stage beauties # 6: Diana Gibson`
Reverse reads:
A series of 54, No. 15. Diana Gibson.
A series of real photographs now being issued with Black Cat Medium Cigarettes.Carreras Ltd (ESTD 1788) Arcadia Works, London, England.
Seems like Diana was for the most part uncredited according to IMDB, link.
26 June 2006
DVD review: Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
‘Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid’, was for me one of those films that was always on TV whilst I was growing up, perhaps because it was such a huge hit the BBC seemed to play it on heavy rotation. It seemed to always be on. Later, as I watched more and more films I never really felt the urge to go back to ‘Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid’ and I don’t really know why, other than perhaps I felt a little over exposed to it.
I’ve just seen ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – The Ultimate Collectors Edition’, which is one of those rare occasions when a studio in this case 20th Century Fox puts out something that feels this definitive and is worthy of taking another look.
The extras include a nice documentary which is entirely on-set footage of the film making process ‘The Making of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid’ and narrated by George Roy-Hill that he donated to Yale University (he was in the class of 1943). He discusses lenses used, shooting locations, stunts and almost all aspects of his process in a very straightforward style.
There is also a scene that was cut where Butch, Sundance and Etta whilst in Bolivia visit a cinema and see a short film essentially about themselves called ‘The Hole in the Wall Gang’ Butch and Sundance are unhappy to see their portrayal and angry when the film depicts events as they did not happen. What I also liked as an extra were the interviews with historians who compared the film with what they know about the real Butch, Sundance and Etta.
There are several interviews with William Goldman, he has several comments that interested me and helped me to see the film in a new light.
One such comment he makes is to tell us that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, were in the late 1950’s largely unknown and the element that interested him the most was that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ran away and became legends for a second time. To those who haven’t seen this film in a while, this DVD really provides enough reasons in terms of content to give the film another look, if you were like me and hadn’t seen it in a while you can add an extra depth of appreciation through these great extras.
‘Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid’ IMDB entry, link.
More information on the 20th Century Fox site, link.
Coming attraction: Volver
According to this programme 'Volver' has been described as 'Mildred Pierce' meets 'Arsenic and Old Lace'. UK release is sadly not until 25th August.
IMDB entry for 'Volver', link.
25 June 2006
Truth and fiction: Sergeant York
My friend Colin was always telling me how much he enjoyed 'Sergeant York' to this day and despite being on heavy rotation on TCM here in the UK I've still never seen it.
The article below about Sergeant York caught my eye whilst I was away.
Article: 'Revisiting the legend of an American War Hero' by Craig S. Smith, link.
Anna Magnani
A still from 'The Golden Coach' from an old NFT film programme (Renoir season).
For more Magnani check out Movie Masterworks post on 'Mamma Roma', link.
DVD review: Free Cinema
Film and stage beauties # 5: Laurie Lane
Reverse reads:
A series of 54, No. 14. Laurie Lane.
A series of real photographs now being issued with Black Cat Medium Cigarettes.Carreras Ltd (ESTD 1788) Arcadia Works, London, England.
Seems like Laurie was mostly an extra according to IMDB, link.
Coming attraction: A Prairie Home Companion
I'm not sure of the UK release of this yet but saw a sneak preview on Talking Movies (BBC). I think I recall that because of Altman's age they had to have Paul Thomas Anderson as the stand by Director.
IMDB entry for 'A Prairie Home Companion', link.
17 June 2006
Coming attraction: The Wind That Shakes The Barley
According to yesterday's Daily Telegraph when this film opens in Britain next Friday it will open on 40 screens, in France it will open on 300 screens.
'Useable Past' article from today's Guardian, link. According to this The Times labelled Loach worse than Leni Riefenstahl, it seems the British press have given Loach a bit of a bashing over the subject matter of his latest film. Interview with Ken Loach in yesterday's Guardian, with overview of the quotes used in newspapers such as The Sun and The Daily Mail, link. According to The Daily Telegraph yesterday when he was interviewed in Cannes he said "I don't think there's going to be any controversy over this film", link.
Loach always takles subjects that frankly our other film makers won't go near, this is why for those that enjoy his work think that he is a vibrant and interesting film maker, regardless of his political views and amongst the best of those film makers still working here.
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