October, month of monster movies!
Oct. 4th, 2011 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynnegaWe are having autumn. I am wearing knee-high boots and a sweater jacket. This makes me very happy.
Last night I watched Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on TCM. I'm not sure how many times I've seen it. When I was a kid, back in the prehistoric pre-VCR days, my dad had a book of stills from the film (and also one for the 1931 Frankenstein), which may be why I'm so familiar with the film shot-by-shot. But I was struck anew by what a visual masterpiece the film is.
It's pre-code, of course, which means it gets to get away with this overtly sexy scene with Miriam Hopkins--but what's really amazing about the scene is the genius of Hopkins' superimposed swinging leg at the end of the clip:
I always have to remind myself that it's actually Fredric March playing Hyde, he submerges so completely into the role (and it's not just the superbly hideous makeup). The scenes of Hyde's abuse of Ivy (Hopkins) are hard to watch--but as this essay points out, it's a brilliant study of abuse: "Hyde is persistently vicious and domineering, with Jekyll as the winning personality who smooths things over with money and kind words. The only difference is that, up until the very end, Hopkins has no idea that the two men in her life are really one."
Last night I also watched part of Tod Browning's Mark of the Vampire. I've seen it before once or twice, but it was as incomprehensible as ever. Bela Lugosi and Carroll Borland wander around looking inscrutably vampiric (I could watch the awesome Borland doing her thing for hours), while various non-vampires (played by Lionel Barrymore and Lionel Atwill, among others) scurry around doing who knows what. The "surprise" ending is very WTF-ish.
Last night I watched Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on TCM. I'm not sure how many times I've seen it. When I was a kid, back in the prehistoric pre-VCR days, my dad had a book of stills from the film (and also one for the 1931 Frankenstein), which may be why I'm so familiar with the film shot-by-shot. But I was struck anew by what a visual masterpiece the film is.
It's pre-code, of course, which means it gets to get away with this overtly sexy scene with Miriam Hopkins--but what's really amazing about the scene is the genius of Hopkins' superimposed swinging leg at the end of the clip:
I always have to remind myself that it's actually Fredric March playing Hyde, he submerges so completely into the role (and it's not just the superbly hideous makeup). The scenes of Hyde's abuse of Ivy (Hopkins) are hard to watch--but as this essay points out, it's a brilliant study of abuse: "Hyde is persistently vicious and domineering, with Jekyll as the winning personality who smooths things over with money and kind words. The only difference is that, up until the very end, Hopkins has no idea that the two men in her life are really one."
Last night I also watched part of Tod Browning's Mark of the Vampire. I've seen it before once or twice, but it was as incomprehensible as ever. Bela Lugosi and Carroll Borland wander around looking inscrutably vampiric (I could watch the awesome Borland doing her thing for hours), while various non-vampires (played by Lionel Barrymore and Lionel Atwill, among others) scurry around doing who knows what. The "surprise" ending is very WTF-ish.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 09:42 pm (UTC)[hugs hugs]
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Date: 2011-10-04 09:44 pm (UTC)::hugs::
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Date: 2011-10-04 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 11:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 11:28 pm (UTC)Hopkins' accent swings as much as her leg.
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Date: 2011-10-05 12:39 am (UTC)