Comments on: Best Newman & Redford movies http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/ A pop culture blog by Mormons but not about Mormonism Sat, 26 May 2012 14:16:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Kulturblog » Best Plays into Movies http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36385 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:27:56 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36385 [...] back in the Newman thread the issue of plays made into movies came up. Now this is one I’m probably not qualified to [...]

]]> By: Clark http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36384 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:35:31 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36384 I’ll grant you that Streetcar is the best film transition. (At least that I’ve seen – I never saw Night of the Iguana film version but I’d be surprised if it were that good)

I’d have to second Jack. Cat might not be the same as the play but on its own terms it’s pretty good. Interestingly it’s about the only film with Elizabeth Taylor in it that I can stand. (I really don’t like her as an actress normally)

As for plays -> movie transitions. Someone ought do a thread on that. My favorite is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I actually think the movie version is superior to the play version.

]]> By: Jack http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36383 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:58:48 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36383 “One simply doesn’t believe that Paul and Liz wouldn’t be all over each other, every second.”

I don’t get that at all. Maybe it isn’t true to Williams’ original intent, but one gets the idea that they ought to be all over each other but can’t because of a huge wedge in their relationship. It’s a different kind of tension, but it still works.

And I thought L. Taylor was really pretty good in “Suddenly Last Summer.” I rather like her rawness in those kinds of roles.

By the way, it’s nice to see you around hear again, D..

]]> By: D. Fletcher http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36382 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:49:23 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36382 Suddenly Last Summer has some good things (Katharine Hepburn), some fair things (Mercedes McCambridge), and some dreadful awful things (Elizabeth Taylor). The play is a one-act play by Williams — stretching it into a full-length piece makes it pretty tedious.

Liz was always bad when she was Acting with a capital A. When she was just being a movie star, she’s pretty good (Giant, or even Cleopatra).

Her big AA for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is just a tragedy for all concerned; she was completely wrong for the part, and couldn’t make it work at all.

]]> By: Supergenius http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36381 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:51:18 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36381 D., what about Suddenly Last Summer?

]]> By: D. Fletcher http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36380 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:53:50 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36380 The very best play-to-movie adaptations were all directed by William Wyler.

The Children’s Hour (These Three)
Dead End
The Little Foxes
The Heiress

The only movie version of a Tennessee Williams play which holds up is A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by its original director Elia Kazan.

]]> By: D. Fletcher http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36379 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:51:03 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36379 But the central “conflict” of Cat has been REMOVED from the movie — did Brick sleep with his best college buddy?

And Elizabeth Taylor is all wrong for Maggie. Maggie is Barbara bel Geddes, someone very unsure of her sexual power.

One simply doesn’t believe that Paul and Liz wouldn’t be all over each other, every second.

I think it’s a terrible movie.

But I still think Paul is heads and tails above Redford, as actor and director. Paul directed Rachel Rachel, which is very fine, and also Sometimes A Great Notion.

]]> By: Norbert http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36378 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:26:48 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36378 Newman’s direction of Menagerie is rubbish, which is too bad. The opening and ending are especially poorly executed. I love the play and the film always disappoints.

]]> By: Jack http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36377 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:55:03 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36377 Actually some plays/musicals transition very well to the screen. The problem with the movie version of “Cat” is that it still wants to be on the stage–thus making it’s cinematic quality rather gratuitous. It requires more than a token effort to “cinematize” a play.

]]> By: Clark http://kulturblog.com/2008/02/28/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36376 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:32:45 +0000 http://www.kulturblog.com/2008/02/best-newman-redford-movies/#comment-36376 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof suffers from the same affliction that besets any play or musical that makes the transition to the movie screen. However the script and the performances are so excellent that I can’t believe anyone would call it a bad movie. Of all the play-cum-movies he did it is the best.

Admittedly it’s not the best Williams play made into a movie. And Williams didn’t like it. But it won the awards it did.

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