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cynical behavior
9/22/04:
Last night (this morning
actually) I put on TCM while folding laundry and they were showing Beat
the Devil. I couldn't have asked for anything better while doing
such a chore. I had seen the John Huston film awhile back but I couldn't
remember what the exact plot was. It didn't matter. Beat the Devil
is the kind of film that has too much plot and not enough because it requires
none. All your attention is focused on the characters. With Peter Lorre,
Robert Morley, Ivor Barnard and Marco Tulli as four conspiring crooks
with such distinguishably contrasting features and sharp dialogue by Truman
Capote, the interactions between the cast in each scene is plenty of fun
regardless of how well you're paying attention to the story. Oh yeah,
Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida are in it too. Bogart
is great but totally upstaged.
I thought about how few great
character actors there are these days. I can't even think of any with
features as exaggerated as Tulli for instance. Many of today's supporting
roles are given to a fairly normal looking actor that is capable of appearing
and playing a stand out individual, but often they're just lesser celebrated
movie stars as plain as their leads. Take Sky Captain and the World
of Tomorrow for example. That movie could have benefitted from some
fun, interesting characters.
Unfortunately Beat
the Devil finished before my folding was done (I only do laundry
once a month). Next on TCM was the completely different epic western Duel
in the Sun. In contrast, I couldn't follow the story at all (I was
also on and off helping an ex- with something online during both films).
It also had a lot of big movie stars in non-lead roles. It was a cast
of thousands, as they say. Two things I did catch, however, thanks to
pop cultured memory, seemed familiar having seen two other epic films
that came long after. Exile isn't rare in drama but when Gregory Peck
is sent away by his father (Lionel Barrymore), and my eyes were not on
the screen, I recalled the similar moment between Al Pacino and Marlon
Brando in The Godfather. Then the scene where Peck crashes a
train carrying explosives reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia.
If only the scene had some Native Americans charging the wreckage afterward.
So, at 3am, I was obviously
thinking too much about these films as I tried to find room for what seems
like an uncontrollable expansion of my wardrobe (when will I just start
throwing out clothes from when I actually wore XL?) Anyway, I should go
make another attempt to watch The Birth of a Nation, a film that
so far makes me think so little that I lose all attention for it.
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