We watched The Unknown last night. It's a silent about an armless knifethrower (yes, you read that correctly) played by Lon Chaney who is in love with a sweet young thing played by Joan Crawford. Directed by Tod Browning of Freaks fame. It was disturbing and brilliant. Next up is another Chaney/Browning production called London After Midnight.
Captain was looking for a pilot. I found a husband. Seemed to work out.
Zoe ,'Bushwhacked'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
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Glamcookie - Jun 26, 2006 7:48:02 am PDT #2478 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
DavidS - Jun 26, 2006 12:24:25 pm PDT #2479 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
We watched The Unknown last night.
It is disturbing and brilliant isn't it? There's a great book about the Browning/Chaney collaborations (and other early, pre-code horror) called The Horror Show by David Skaal that I love a lot, and highly recommend. Browning was a fascinating character who worked the carnies before he got into film, including doing a Buried Alive act. Skaal goes into the weird psychosexual masochism of Chaney's performances, and what a huge box office star he was (equal to Fairbanks and Chaplin).
Glamcookie - Jun 26, 2006 12:32:18 pm PDT #2480 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
Chaney is a really great fucking actor. I'd seen Phantom of the Opera but his performance in that one is kind of over the top. Don't get me wrong - I love the movie. It's just that I got more of a sense of him as an actor in The Unknown. I'll have to check out that book. Chaney has definitely drawn me in.
DavidS - Jun 26, 2006 12:40:33 pm PDT #2481 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Oop, it's actually called The Monster Show by David Skal
First sentence: "Tod Browning lay in his grave, eating malted milk balls."
erikaj - Jun 26, 2006 12:58:58 pm PDT #2482 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Tod Browning is a hero to my people. I wonder what he would think of that.
DavidS - Jun 26, 2006 7:58:00 pm PDT #2483 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I wonder what he would think of that.
He'd dig it. He was all Crip Power! before that was a notion.
Cashmere - Jun 27, 2006 6:08:49 am PDT #2484 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang=Oh, so fucking good.
sumi - Jun 27, 2006 6:19:46 am PDT #2485 of 10001
Art Crawl!!!
Excellent. I'm going to be watching that sometime this week. (It came in from Netflix over the weekend.)
Sean K - Jun 27, 2006 8:30:44 am PDT #2486 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Okay, ow.
Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
I'm getting ready to head out for a bit, and S is watching Tammy and the Doctor, the third Tammy movie, starring Sandra Dee and Peter Fonda. It also features a young and dashing Adam West as a playboy doctor in the early 60's mode. I watched one scene with him in it, as he hits on Tammy, and it was actually kind of.... well, good. And very Bruce Wayne. Three years before he would actually take on the role for the first time.
And now I'm picturing him at that age in a better costume, with a modern Batman/Bruce Wayne role to inhabit, and good direction, and it's kind of working for me. I find myself pining for an Adam West Batman we never got and it's breaking my brain.
Ow.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 27, 2006 10:32:49 am PDT #2487 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
You make me wonder if 40 years from now Christian Bale is going to be a kook pitching an Uncle Batman character to whoever's making the Batman entertainment in the 2040s.