The Bad the Beautiful is a marvelous, underappreciated film although I wonder if Gloria Grahame was really all that good-looking. Or maybe it's just that the mannequin styles of the '50s didn't really work with her looks.Nonetheless, this sweatered shot from her '50s turn in Fritz Lang's Human Desire earns her a place in the pointy-breast hall of fame.
Hah! Pointed the way, indeed.
ReplyDeleteWith the joke out of the way, I want to say that I greatly appreciate the movie references. I used to go down to the local video rental shops and just browse, hoping to be pleasantly surprised by finding something I'd never even heard of. Now those places are closed, and I have a Netflix account, which is great if you know what you are looking for. For browsing, not so much. So now I've added The Bad and the Beautiful to my Netflix queue, and I'll listen extra-closely to the score; but I see that Human Desire is apparently only available in a region 0 PAL DVD from Spain, but considering the reviews, I suppose I'll have to order a copy, just to see if it's all that. I think my DVD player can play it.
Gah, I totally did that unconsciously! I swear!
ReplyDeleteThe Bad and the Beautiful is also loosely based on some true Hollywood stories. (It's basically the story of an actress, a director and a writer who all have had run-ins with Kirk Douglas' producer character.) The director is very reminiscent of Val Lewton (director of "The Cat People"), for example.
As for Human Desire, well, I don't think Fritz Lang's American work much lived up to his German roots. Metropolis, M, Mabuse (hey, lotsa Ms, wonder what's up with that...) are just astounding.
Fury is considered a classic and still has effective moments, but it comes off a bit melodramatic (to me).
I'll be looking forward to reading your opinions!