Blog Archives
Movie Quote of the Day – Sabrina, 1995 (dir. Sydney Pollack)
Sabrina Fairchild: You know, you are not exactly what people say you are.
Linus Larrabee: Oh yeah? [beat] What do they say I am?
Sabrina Fairchild: Oh, you know.
Linus Larrabee: No.
Sabrina Fairchild: Well. . .that you’re the world’s only living heart donor.
Linus Larrabee: Oh. That.
Sabrina Fairchild: And. . .how does this one go? Um, “He thinks that morals are paintings on walls and scruples are money in Russia.”
Linus Larrabee: Well, that’s droll.
Sabrina Fairchild: And then there’s my favorite. . .
Linus Larrabee: No, no, no. I get the picture.
Movie Quote of the Day – Ball of Fire, 1941 (dir. Howard Hawks)
Prof. Bertram Potts: What are you going to do?
Sugarpuss O’Shea: Come here. I’m going to show you what yum-yum is. Here’s yum. [kisses him] Here’s the other yum. [kisses him again] And here’s yum-yum. [kisses him a third time]
Prof. Bertram Potts: Excuse me.
Sugarpuss O’Shea: Hey, where are you going?
Movie Quote of the Day – Ace in the Hole, 1951 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Lorraine Minosa: I don’t go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Apartment, 1960 (dir. Billy Wilder)
C.C. Baxter: I love you Miss Kubelik.
Fran Kubelik: Three. . .queen.
C.C. Baxter: Did you hear what I said, Miss Kubelik? I absolutely adore you.
Fran Kubelik: Shut up and deal.
Oscar Vault Monday – Double Indemnity, 1944 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Billy Wilder has got to be one of the most masterful and varied directors of all time. He has written and directed some of the greatest films of all time. Although he made films in a variety of genres, two of his greatest achievements were in the film-noir genre: 1950’s Sunset Blvd. and 1944’s Double Indemnity. I watched this film for the first time in November (also known as Noirvember) and I was blown away by how wonderful it was. Barbara Stanwyck’s Phyllis Dietrichson is perhaps the greatest of all femme fatales. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, but failed to win a single award: Best Sound, Best Score, Best B&W Cinematography, Best Screenplay. Best Actress Barbra Stanwyck, Best Director and Best Picture. It was up against Gaslight, Since You Went Away, Wilson and winner Going My Way. I think Going My Way‘s win is a testament to its star Bing Crosby’s popularity. It’s a film that, other than Crosby’s performance, has not aged well; whereas the popularity and critical acclaim for Double Indemnity has continued to grow throughout the decades. In fact, the film found its way on to several of the American Film Institute’s 100 years… series: 100 Years…100 Movies #38 (1998), 100 Years…100 Thrills #24 (2001), 100 Years…100 Passions #84 (2002), 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains: Phyllis Dietrichson, villain #8 (2003), 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #29 (2007).
Movie Quote of the Day – Sabrina, 1954 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Linus Larrabee: How do you say in French my sister has a yellow pencil?
Sabrina Fairchild: Ma soeur a un crayon jaune.
Linus Larrabee: How do you say my brother has a lovely girl?
Sabrina Fairchild: Mon frère a une gentille petite amie.
Linus Larrabee: And how do you say I wish I were my brother?
Movie Quote of the Day – Sunset Blvd., 1950 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Joe Gillis: You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be in pictures. You used to be big.
Norma Desmond: I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.
Joe Gillis: I knew there was something wrong with them.
Movie Quote of the Day – Some Like It Hot, 1959 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Jerry: Oh no you don’t! Osgood, I’m gonna level with you. We can’t get married at all.
Osgood: Why not?
Jerry: Well, in the first place, I’m not a natural blonde.
Osgood: Doesn’t matter.
Jerry: I smoke! I smoke all the time!
Osgood: I don’t care.
Jerry: Well, I have a terrible past. For three years now, I’ve been living with a saxophone player.
Osgood: I forgive you.
Jerry: [Tragically] I can never have children!
Osgood: We can adopt some.
Jerry: But you don’t understand, Osgood!
[Pulls of wig]
Jerry: I’m a man!
Osgood: Well, nobody’s perfect!
Oscar Vault Monday – Sunset Blvd. 1950 (dir. Billy Wilder)
When I first netflixed this film I watched it three times before sending it back – twice back-to-back and then a third time the next morning. I was completely blown away with how wonderful it was, from start to finish. I know a lot of people consider Some Like It Hot to be Billy Wilder’s best film and as much as I like that one, I have to disagree and go with Sunset Blvd. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning three for black-and-white Art Direction, Best Writing – story and screenplay and Best Score. For Best Picture it was up against Father of the Bride, King Solomon’s Mines, Born Yesterday and lost to All About Eve. All About Eve wound up winning six Oscars in all. Another tight race that year was Best Actress, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. was up against Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in All About Eve, but all three lost to Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. Having watched all three of those films within a few days of each other it is my belief that, although Holliday’s performance was stunning, the other three women spilt the vote so severely that Holliday won by default. I’ll say it up front, I enjoyed All About Eve, but I deeply love Sunset Blvd. and think it is by and far the greater of the two films.
Beware: there be spoilers after the cut.
An Ode to TCM
Sorry I’ve been m.i.a. since the Oscars. I’ve been having some problems at work. Long story short work’s no longer a problem, so I’m back. I’ve got a few posts related to film in 2010 that I want to post, but I’ve got to flesh them out a little before I post them.
However, today I spent quite a bit of time watching Turner Classic Movies. They had an amazing line-up today. I’d recommend all four of the films I watched today, but each one for very different reasons.
The first film I watched was Some Like It Hot. I’ve seen this film numerous times. It is definitely one of the absolute funniest films of all time. Billy Wilder truly is a genius.
the diary of a film history fanatic 