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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2020 - 11:22 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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Only four Hollywood films, but I have to be honest and say I have several holes here. I've never seen films like HATARI, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE MIRACLE WORKER, HOW THE WEST WAS WON, THE LONGEST DAY, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES etc. etc. -- even though I own soundtracks from several of them.
Also a few I don't find good enough, or that appeal enough to me, to be included on the list, like DR. NO, BOCCACCIO '70.
Thor, among those you listed as having never seen, I can hardly recommend strongly enough that you make a point of seeing (at the very least) THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and THE MIRACLE WORKER, two very different but brilliant, iconic films with strong performances and compelling stories. Honorable mentions to the others, but these two in particular! I have to admit a sweet tooth for ensemble films based on plays about dysfunctional families in which all the family skeletons are progressively revealed, so I might throw in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT as one to see as well. (Sparsely heard but enigmatic Previn theme is actually plunked on the piano during the film by drug-addicted mother played by Kate Hepburn...)
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Posted: |
Oct 30, 2020 - 7:40 AM
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By: |
joan hue
(Member)
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Thank you Joan for bringing this book to everyone's attention! Your synopsis is great! Where were you when I needed my book reports written for me? One thing I would emphasize is that (from the authors' point of view) 1962's claim to the title of the greatest year in film history was not just about the quality of the films, as stellar as that was. They are presented and analyzed in contrast to where films were coming from, the creative limitations imposed by Code, the Legion of Decency and other social forces, and the ground that was broken by the films of that year, knocking down old barriers and opening the way to an open and honest examination of so many real life themes which were previously forbidden subject matter. Wonderful topic and an interesting book!
Thank you, Dana. Actually, your succinct synopsis of this book is better than what I wrote. I also concur that THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and THE MIRACLE WORKER are films that all film lovers should see. Powerful films!
Zardoz, thanks for your additional films. Paul, this books really is more about films than film music. However, I agree that 1960 had GRAND film scores.
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Posted: |
Oct 31, 2020 - 8:05 AM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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Absolutely by all means Manchurian and Miracle are must-sees for any serious film aficionado, the latter for that and film music aficionados. It's been mentioned here many times that the Laurence Rosenthal score is brilliant for this from-stage-to-screen production. He gave it a very Northian treatment in the psychological scoring dept.
And hey Dana, love your plug for Long Day's...Night. An acting feast. That and The Iceman Cometh for the full O'Neill dramatic treatment. 
The neurotic "slow reveal" skeletons-in-the-closet pics are a sad obsession of mine -- think "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "The Boys in the Band," "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," and "August Osage County" to name but a few. Throw in a few Tennessee Williams titles while we're at it. Sadly, few of these have any sort of music score to mention, Alex North's "Who's Afraid" probably the one most like an actual film score.
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