Blog Archives
Movie Quote of the Day – Wuthering Heights, 1939 (dir. William Wyler )
Heathcliff: What do they know of Heaven or Hell, Cathy, who know nothing of life? Oh, they’re paying for you, Cathy. I’ll pray one prayer with them. I’ll repeat until my tongue stiffens. Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest so long as I live on! I killed you. Haunt me, then! Haunt your murderer! I know that ghosts have wandered on the Earth. Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul.
Movie Quote of the Day – How To Steal A Million, 1966 (dir. William Wyler)
Simon Dermott: Yes, that’s fine. That does it.
Nicole Bonnet: Does what?
Simon Dermott: Well, for one thing, it gives Givenchy a night off.
Movie Quote of the Day – Dodsworth, 1936 (dir. William Wyler)
Fran Dodsworth: Are you going back to that washed-out expatriate in Naples?
Sam Dodsworth: Yes, and when I marry her, I’m going back to doing things.
Fran Dodsworth: Do you think you’ll ever get me out of your blood?
Sam Dodsworth: Maybe not, but love has got to stop someplace short of suicide.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946 (dir. William Wyler)
Milly Stephenson: Didn’t think you’d be up for hours.
Al Stephenson: You know, I had a dream. I dreamt I was home. I’ve had that same dream hundreds of times before. This time I wanted to find out if it’s really true. Am I really home?
Milly Stephenson: Looks like it.
Movie Quote of the Day – Roman Holiday, 1953 (dir. William Wyler)
Princess Ann: Can I have a silk nightgown with rosebuds on it?
Joe Bradley: I’m afraid you’ll have to rough it tonight. . .in these.
Princess Ann: Pajamas?
Joe Bradley: Sorry Honey, but I haven’t worn a nightgown in years.
Oscar Vault Monday – Dodsworth, 1936 (dir. William Wyler)
I first saw this film as part of TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar in 2011 when I was living in the back of my parents’ house in the midst of a post-college life crisis. I cried a lot. After watching this film, I mean, but also in general. I rewatched it last night and I think I love it more than I had thought possible. It’s such an expertly executed film, from Wyler’s direction, to the script (adapted from Sinclair Lewis’s novel by Sidney Howard, who would go one to write the adapted script for Gone With The Wind), to the performances by the film’s entire cast. It’s just plain perfect. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning one: Best Art Direction (won), Best Sound, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Actor Walter Huston, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were: Anthony Adverse, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls and The Great Ziegfeld.
Movie Quote of the Day – Jezebel, 1938 (dir. William Wyler)
Preston Dillard: Naturally, we claim the right to the customs we were born to. Even some of us who question the value of those customs.
Buck Cantrell: I like my convictions undiluted, same as I do my bourbon.
Oscar Vault Monday – Jezebel, 1938 (dir. William Wyler)
I really love this film. I have watched it many times. It’s one that gets richer each time you watch it. Often, you hear it dismissed, or at least introduced, as Bette Davis’s Gone With The Wind, but it is definitely more than just a consolation prize. This film represents a turning point in Davis’s career and it was after her phenomenal turn in this film that she became the superstar we now know and love. The film was nominated for five Academy Award, won two: Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Supporting Actress Fay Bainter (won), Best Actress Bette Davis (won), Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were The Adventures of Robin Hood, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Boys Town, The Citadel, Four Daughters, La Grande Illusion, Pygmalion, Test Pilot, and winner You Can’t Take It With You. I have actually seen all of these films, and they are ALL fantastic.
Oscar Vault Monday – Dead End, 1937 (dir. William Wyler)
Continuing with Noirvember, I decided to write about a proto-noir, William Wyler’s Dead End. This is a fabulous example of crime cinema, coming at the end of the thirties and a wave of films like Scarface and The Petrified Forest. Dead End takes a look at the life of several residents who live in tenements located below luxury apartments built for the view of the picturesque East River. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, though it didn’t win any: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actress Claire Trevor and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door, A Star Is Born and winner The Life of Emile Zola.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Little Foxes, 1941 (dir. William Wyler)
Regina Giddens: I hope you die. I hope you die soon. I’ll be waiting for you to die.
the diary of a film history fanatic 