[QUOTE=Sampiro]
Furthermore Shirley probably showed a lot more versatility in her pre-teen movies than La Hepburn showed in 70 years, which is to say that Shirley didn’t make a career of playing Katharine Hepburn.
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Now that would be a movie I’d like to see. Shirley Temple IS Katharine Hepburn!
Actually, now I’m envisioning SHirley Temple in all of Hepburn’s roles and I may have to blind my mind’s eye with a hot poker.
My mother used to be a major Temple fan, even has a few pieces of Depression glass with Temple’s face on it. She made me sit through a few of them as a kid and I hated them. I have a low tolerance for treacle and pretty much the mere appearance of little Shirley puts me over the limit. I could barely even stand to watch that Brady Bunch episode where Cindy tries to become the new Shirley Temple, because, good god, one was more than enough.
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
I get the same experience watching Marx Brothers movies. The brothers themselves were geniuses. But when was the last time you actually sat down and watched one of their movies?
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Actually, all the time. They still remain some of the best comedies in debatably the best decade of comedy in American cinema.
I think Little Miss Marker (1934), adapted from a Damon Runyan story, holds up well, with its fast-talking mix of sass and sentiment typical of early thirties movies.
I just can’t look at Shirley Temple the same way ever since I learned about the Baby Burlesques. Words cannot express how disturbing it is to learn that at three or four she played the part of a prostitute seducing a politician and adults thought this was funny. I suppose they really have been exploiting kids in film since it all began.
Say what you will about her, she was actually a fairly good dancer – the bitch could do wings (tap-dance move that looks kind of like a jumping jack – except you do taps with both toes when your feet are in the “out” position), which are realy freaking hard!
I grew up with her movies and have a certain nostalgic fondness for them, but I can watch '30s musicals with no problem.
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore]
“The grandfather” is a literal translation from the novel by Johanna Spyri. She was Swiss and wrote in German. “The” followed by a name is a German endearment. “The grandfather” is actually an affectionate term.
I know, it’s odd. When I was first introduced to the family of my German fiance (now husband), I was disconcerted to hear them refer to me as “die Sonia.” I interpreted it to mean something cold, on the order of calling me “that woman.” My fiance had to reassure me that the word “the/die” was actually affectionate. A German speaker who likes you might refer to you as “die Savannah.”
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Oh, that is interesting! I will have to tell him that when he comes home tonight. For some reason, that really stuck out in his mind; he kept commenting on it yesterday, and made sure I heard the dialogue when it came up. Thanks for solving that mystery!
[QUOTE=Walloon]
I don’t think that’s the problem. Few silent stars had successful careers in the talkies. Most '30s stars came from the stage, or were movie studio finds. In any case, speech and diction classes were regular parts of the studio regimine. If anything, '30s acting styles show stage mannerisms, not silent acting.
[/QUOTE]
Yes; I’ve heard it pointed out that stage style acting doesn’t work as well in movies or on TVs; stage actors are seen and heard with the naked eyes and ears at a distance, so they have to exaggerate things to come across to the audience. Translated to a large screen, or a close up on a TV, everything looks overdone.
Watch one of the comedies of the Ritz Brothers or Wheeler and Woolsey or Olsen and Johnson, and you’ll see what a Marx Brothers movie looks like without the Marx Brothers. The Marx Brothers movies are great for only one reason - because they had the Marx Brothers in them. It would have been so much better if they had ever had a chance to be in a movie that was as good as they were.
It’s like what later happened to Richard Pryor - another comedic genius who never got a role that deserved his talent.
[QUOTE=Otto]
I have a low tolerance for treacle and pretty much the mere appearance of little Shirley puts me over the limit.
[/QUOTE]
Have a boo at “To the Last Man” (1933). Not your typical Temple movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024674/
[QUOTE=Savannah]
Oh, that is interesting! I will have to tell him that when he comes home tonight. For some reason, that really stuck out in his mind; he kept commenting on it yesterday, and made sure I heard the dialogue when it came up. Thanks for solving that mystery!
[/QUOTE]