Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.)

Join our community!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Keeper of the Flame (1943)
Topic Started: May 20 2012, 02:34 PM (294 Views)
Laughing Gravy
Member Avatar
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
[ *  *  * ]
All-American hero Robert Forrest is killed in an automobile accident, and war correspondent Spencer Tracy returns to the U.S. to write his obituary. Mrs. Forrest, Katharine Hepburn, is reluctant to speak, the only other living relative hated Forrest's guts, a mysterious old woman is locked up in a small house on the property and not allowed to speak to anyone, and a mysterious private secretary lurks in dark corners. Say, what kind of fellow WAS Robert Forrest, anyway?

MGM's homage to Citizen Kane, surprisingly; directed by George Cukor.

I understand that this was a big mess during filming, with all kinds of script troubles (based on an unpublished novel, screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart, who didn't much go in for this sort of thing, being a pal of Dorothy & Bob at the Algonquin and all). Hepburn came late to the party, and wanted a lot of script changes to build up her part (she doesn't appear until the film's nearly 1/3 over as it is). She also wanted more of a romance (she'd begun her legendary liaison with Spence) and check out the coming attraction on the disc: Tracy's character tells her he's in love with her, a line missing from the final cut of the film. All that said, this is a fine early-war film on the dangers of remaining quiet in the face of facism ("They don't call it fascism," she says, "they paint it red, white and blue and call it Americanism"). Supposedly, Louis B. Mayer hated the darn thing. Well, Laughing B. Gravy liked it a lot, it's about the darkest drama other than Citizen Kane I've seen in a long time. It was the second of the 9 Tracy-Hepburn films. Percy Kilbride and Donald Meek, who I like, have nice supporting roles; Forrest Tucker and Darryl Hickman do too, but don't come off nearly as well.

Bonus material included a vicious WW2 Tex Avery short, Blitz Wolf (a Hitler parody), the trailer, and an Our Gang short with Darryl Hickman that's actually really good for an MGM Our Gang short.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Frank Hale
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
[ *  *  * ]
Apparently you didn’t find it lugubrious, as I suggested you might a few years ago!

http://s13.zetaboards.com/In_The_Balcony/topic/6548437/1/
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Laughing Gravy
Member Avatar
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
[ *  *  * ]
Well, I might've, had I known what a 35¢ word like that MEANT.

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums with no limits on posts or members.
Learn More · Sign-up for Free
« Previous Topic · The Dark Aisle · Next Topic »
Add Reply