So the Nitwitvile brain trust has declared MGM's classic musical THE BANDWAGON sheer genius, apart from the dreadful acting and story:
https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic. ... &start=210
So Cyd Charisse is not much of an actress----WHO CARES!!!!----all she has to do is stand there on those legs and you have the price of admission and if she's moving them around in her terrific style all the better, it's wildfire. Fred Astaire is a 30's incarnation of himself and it reflects in spades, well yeah, if one actually pays attention to the story, it's commenting on the fact that ol Fred has been around a long time (in fact, he would attempt retirement after this film came out, which fortunately didn't take) and he has to reinvent himself by going back to Broadway, he's, kinda, playing it to the requirements of the story. Oscar Levant can't act, again, a so what, Oscar Levant plays Oscar Levant in all his cranky, hypochondriac, witty self and plays the piano well, and what else do they hire him for? Works for us, and apparently quite a lot of folk. Nanette Fabray---ok, even these dodos get Nanette Fabray, she's just fine in this.
And Jack Buchanan, well, how could he have possibly been a legend of British stage and film all those decades when he obviously has no talent in the Nitwits eyes? Funny, I've enjoyed in a number of his films, from BULLDOG DRUMMOND'S THIRD ROUND in the silent days, to Lubitsch's MONTE CARLO (1930) where he works just fine with Jeanette MacDonald, and some fine British comedies: WHEN KNIGHTS WERE BOLD (1936), THIS WILL MAKE YOU WHISTLE (1936), a pair of comedy detective films: LARCENY STREET (aka SMASH AND GRAB) (1937) and THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1939) and THE MIDSHIPMAN (1940). And he's great and funny as hell in Rene Clair's BREAK THE NEWS (1938) co-starring with Maurice Chevalier.
Fred Astaire really wanted to work with Buchanan and got MGM to bring him over for THE BANDWAGON, and though Buchanan was apparently quite nervous about working with Astaire, was apparently welcomed warmly by Fred and the cast and gives a perfectly fine performance here, giving him a little immortality in the states. Yet the Nitwits feel Jack is a "stage hog", trying to steal scenes from Astaire. Again, if they were actually paying attention to the story, Buchanan is playing a not too mean spoof on Orson Welles, and it's the plot and Vincent Minnelli making him play grand, which he does quite amusingly.
Again, the Nitwits are trying to pick apart a classic that none of them combined and cloned a 100 times could have ever made themselves even if they got up off their asses from behind their keyboards and tried.
Oh, and that "comedy expert" Bob Lipton thinks Warner's ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942) with Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre and a bunch of good comedians "hasn't aged well":
https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic. ... &start=240
Really Bob? Well, come to think of it, neither have you (I've met him), but that's a rather silly criticism to make about what was an extremely entertaining World War II-era propaganda picture made partially for the war effort, but almost as silly is Daniel Eagan's complaint that the film "normalizes Nazi's"----really Danny boy? Methinks that's kinda the whole point of the propaganda in the film that is warning Americans about fifth-column Nazi spies then among their midst who were trying to act "normal" and hide among them. I thought Daniel had a stronger sense of history but hey, he's a Nitwitvile denizen, need we say more?
Both of these films are delightful classics that most of us enjoy just fine, but the Nitwits don't seem to be watching films to be entertained, they just want to find things to carp about, to try to make themselves feel above such way more successful and talented people than they could ever be, kinda a big part of social media and certainly Nitwitvile.
RICHARD M ROBERTS
Nitrateville Latest Stupidity Dept: THE BANDWAGON and ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
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Re: Nitrateville Latest Stupidity Dept: THE BANDWAGON and ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
I have heard some criticism of plot and script elements of THE BAND WAGON from other sources. I don't really take issue with the film, it isn't trying to be overtly realistic or the last word in anything. Countless musicals have one show being rehearsed, only to be replaced by a completely different show on opening night. Geez, just enjoy the fun music and dancing!
I'll be succinct; ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a hoot. If you can find fault with a comedy featuring William Demarest you really need to give up watching movies. Sheesh! Bogart shines in a comic gangster role, and I wish he'd done it more often.
I'll be succinct; ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a hoot. If you can find fault with a comedy featuring William Demarest you really need to give up watching movies. Sheesh! Bogart shines in a comic gangster role, and I wish he'd done it more often.
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