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Post by monica on Aug 14, 2011 4:24:47 GMT -5
Three more movies for discussion... Today, Nazi Agent. Connie appears in dual role, just like in The Brothers Schellenberg (which was a real gem). Unfortunately, Nazi Agent was made as a low-budget movie, with few important actors, the most remarkable, aside of Connie, of course, being Frank Reicher. Ann Ayars was Connie's co-star, and they had some nice scenes together - even if they couldn't be called "love scenes". Ayars was a little known actress and I, personally, have never seen her in any other movies, just like June Duprez. But Connie is always interesting to look at, even if he plays again the Nazi agent... Attachments:
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Post by Mary Ellen Byrne on Aug 14, 2011 22:25:58 GMT -5
That is so ironic you should pick that movie because I just watched it today. I used my flash drive to move a copy of that movie and "Above Suspicion" to my laptop so both movies could be portable. Of course, one does need to watch both movies completely to make sure the upload came out alright, doesn't one? You could say I had my own little mini Conrad Veidt Day today. As I watched "Nazi Agent", I was actually formulating the comments I would make about this film once it came up for discussion. The first comment would come concerning the credit "Based Upon and Idea By Lothar Mendes" I wonder if Mr. Mendes has anything to do with the film "The Brothers Schellenberg" or did he just know a lot about Connie's silent film career and came up with the idea to take the Schellenberg premise and update it to apply to the War Effort? Or was it Connie himself who might have mentioned in passing that he once played twin brothers, who each went in opposite directions to find their way in life and did Mr. Mendes take the idea from there? My second comment is to point out that 1942 project copied the 1926 characters almost perfectly. Otto had a beard exactly like the one Wenzel (I'm going to assume it's Wenzel) Schellenberg had and Hugo was clean shaven as Michael had been. If it weren't for the WWII theme, one would think that MGM has simply decided to pick the story of the Schellenbergs sixteen years later. My third comment has to do with the "perp walk" Hugo/Otto does at the end of the film when he is getting on the ship to return to Germany. I found that to be very Christlike. Here he is being hisssed, booooed and generally derided by the crowd because they figure he is to blame for all the sabotage that's been going on and yet he's the guy they have to thank for stopping the sabotage. My fourth comment has to do with the ending - it stinks! As the ship pulls out of the harbor, the viewer is left to presume that once the ship docks in German, Richten will turn Hugo over as a traitor, Hugo goes on trail in a Nazi Kangaroo court, is found guilty and is executed for his treachery - unacceptable! I realize this is 1942 and the lesson the filmmakers want to install in the audience's mind is the idea of the individual sacrificing his future so that America can keep hers. A beautiful sentiment and wholly appropriate for 1942. It is no longer 1942! 70 years hence that whole ending seems like a complete waste. Maybe I am a vile product of the "Me" generation, but Otto Becker put his life on the line every single moment during that film to bring down this sabotage ring and save the United States from its effects. The thanks he gets is to be sent over to a foreign country to face a firing squad - I DON'T THINK SO! If Otto Becker did everything he did to save this country, somebody needs to save Otto and that is what Fan Fiction is all about people! We're left to assume nothing is going to go wrong between New York Harbor and Berlin. Any number of things could happen! Look, if a good man like Connie can be walking along and just drop dead without any warning whatsoever, why can't Richten. Maybe once they get to Berlin, Richten tries to turn Von Detner over to the Gestapo but it turns out the Third Reich values Von Detner's services too much to lose him and they just let the failure of the sabotage ring go and give Von Detner another job with more Security Clearance than God and Richten ends up with egg on his face. There is so much that could happen and I've got a basic outline up on the storyboard already. Monica, one question. I noticed that "Nazi Agent" and "Above Suspicion" were done by the MGM studios. Did Connie have a falling out with Warner Bros. or was he a free agent that could work for whatever studio he wanted? Could you let me know? Thanks!
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Post by monica on Aug 15, 2011 4:10:56 GMT -5
Mary Ellen, Connie had a contract with MGM, but he was free to choose the movies in which he would like to appear, and he was also able to read in advance the scripts and decide whether he will play those characters or not. In addition to this, he had many facilities, and a great deal of money - that he eventually donated, because he had a heart of gold. So, Connie was lent by MGM to other studios to make movies.
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Post by monica on Aug 15, 2011 4:24:28 GMT -5
What could we say about today's movie for discussion, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari? That it was Connie's most amazing and shocking movie in his entire career, that it was the first most impressive silent film in the world, that it had a great cast, including Werner Krauss as Dr. Caligari, and Lil Dagover as Jane, the girl kidnapped by our magnificent somnambulist Cesare... So much has been written about this very complex movie, the epitome of the German Expressionism... But I will conclude with Connie's own words: No matter what roles I play, I can't get Caligari out of my system.Attachments:
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Post by monica on Aug 15, 2011 11:52:00 GMT -5
Oh, and by the way, Mary Ellen, I didn't choose randomly the movies for discussion, nor by my own pleasure, but exactly in the order they will be shown on TCM. I have the schedule and I posted it on the website, too, so each day I made comments about a movie, I looked first at the list to see what's coming next.
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Post by Mary Ellen Byrne on Aug 15, 2011 21:16:44 GMT -5
Monica, let me ask, do you get TCM in Romania? Are you going to be able to enjoy Connie Day with the rest of us? I hope so!
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Post by Mary Ellen Byrne on Aug 15, 2011 21:42:09 GMT -5
Would you look at that! I got so involved with giving my comments about "Nazi Agent" I completely forgot to give the count! Man, oh man! As to my comments about Caligari, I sometimes fear they may get me thrown out of Connieland. My impressions of Caligari are that it is a groundbreaking film in many aspects and I would agree that it can be counted as the very first horror film ever produced, but the way I sometimes hear people talk about it, the film has some sort of black magic curse upon it that somehow or another steals your soul as you watch it. A film so terrifying that to watch it in the dark alone would instill in the viewer a permanent madness from which no one could ever be cured! NAAAWWW!!! I've seen "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" four or maybe five times in my life and it is a good film but not DEEEEEEPPPPPP enough to alter the course of the twentieth century as I've heard some critics imply. The greatest impression I have of the film is its length. Most films these days whether comedy or drama, are never less that 80 minutes long. Caligari is just over 50 minutes long and yet in so short a time you have a complete story. And, yes, the sets are funky but not hypnotically so. The best part about it I would say is the ending when the viewer finds out what's really going on and just who is who in reality rather than this fantasy world our hero/narrator seems to be living in. That twist I find mind-blowing but pleasantly so. I find a lot of horror movie producers using just that same type of twist these days. So in conclusion, I find Caligari to be a good film but life-altering? I wouldn't put it quite on that level. Only 8 more days until Connie Day. And here's hoping everyone is still speaking to me by the time it gets here.
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Post by monica on Aug 16, 2011 2:14:39 GMT -5
Mary Ellen, you must have seen a shorter version of Caligari, because I have one from DVD at 72 minutes. Caligari is perfect to watch on Halloween, just like in this clip
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Post by monica on Aug 16, 2011 4:17:16 GMT -5
Dark Journey is the 14th movie (out of 14) that will be shown on Conrad Veidt's day on TCM, on August 23. This Victor Saville spy production was filmed in August-September 1936 and released in 1937, with a great success at the box office. It earned 500.000 pounds from the first week of showing in London. Conrad's partner was the one and only Vivien Leigh, at her first major role, as the dressmaker Madeleine Goddard, a double spy. Conrad plays the role of Baron von Marwitz, and he is Head of Section 8 (the German Secret Service). Conrad and Vivien share together some lovely scenes - but part of them were visibly shortened or completely deleted. Owing to its political aspect, Dark Journey was cut several times, and nowadays we have different versions, from 72 to 82 minutes, even if the original movie was much longer than that. Below you have a romantic scene at the Grand Hotel restaurant, that existed in the uncut version. Attachments:
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Post by monica on Aug 16, 2011 4:21:26 GMT -5
Dark Journey was highly promoted around the world, and the actors made many publicity portraits for the campaign. In the end, I will say that Conrad and Vivien were about to appear together in Fire Over England (Raymond Massey took Conrad's part), Under the Red Robe (in which Annabella appeared in the end), The Spy in Black (Vivien went to Hollywood to make GWTW and was replaced by Valerie Hobson) and The Thief of Bagdad (Vivien remained in Hollywood to make Rebecca with Laurence Olivier, but in the end she got Waterloo Bridge, so she was again replaced, this time by June Duprez). Attachments:
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Post by Mary Ellen Byrne on Aug 16, 2011 21:47:09 GMT -5
Oh, man! All those magnificent opportunities for a Connie/Vivian pairing and they all went down the drain! But in exchange, we did get Vivian Leigh in "Gone With The Wind". A part I will own she was in fact created to play. I downloaded "Dark Journey" off achieve.org and added it to my Connie Collection. I think the best moment in the film is a little after midway through the film when one of Karl's buddies accidentally blows his cover and Karl at first screams out but then in a flash gets control over his rage and starts to laugh and brushes the whole incident off. I think that show how Connie and shift his emotions from one extreme to the other on a dime and that's the sign of a good actor. This movie is another one I consider ripe for a Fan Fiction. In the end, Madelaine and Karl part as lovers not enemies but still they do part and that's a lousy way to end a love story in my opinion. There needs to be a story post-war where Karl and Madelaine get back together. I don't know if you'd want to put Bob in there as a possible triangle conflict but then all I have is a desire that the two characters find each other again after the war. I'm afraid I've got nothing on the storyboard in this case. One week! One more week from today and we will be in the throes of Conrad bliss!
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Post by monica on Aug 17, 2011 4:11:10 GMT -5
Well, Mary Ellen, you have the incomplete version. In my version from the UK, Madeleine tells Karl that she will be waiting for him. The movie suggests that he will come back to her after the war, after he is released by the British authorities. That is something you did not see in your version. In my version their last dinner scene is also longer. They exchange glances and he seems to look very attentively at her, without having the courage to bring a certain subject into their discussion. As for the sequence where he is slapped, I think that moment was shortened, because she already knew who he was at the moment he had that incident with Otto. In my version, at a table in the same restaurant is also sitting none other than Dr. Muller, and I am sure that she surprised them together before she met Karl for dinner. Here are some screencaps from the extra-sequences from my DVD. Attachments:
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Post by monica on Aug 17, 2011 4:16:35 GMT -5
A deleted sequence from other versions. She seems to realize that his identity is a different one - because she had just found out the truth -- before that incident in which he is slapped. Attachments:
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Post by monica on Aug 17, 2011 4:17:55 GMT -5
Muller, whom I saw in this scene in the movie a little bit worried, is sitting at a table, quite close to Madeleine and Karl! Attachments:
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Post by monica on Aug 17, 2011 4:21:26 GMT -5
And here we also have Bob Carter in the same restaurant, being a witness to the slapping scene. He knew Madeleine would be in a trouble - even if he did not realize that Karl is the Head of Section 8. That is why I am telling you that Karl's identity wasn't revealed because of that incident with Otto, but because of some other previous (deleted) moments, such as his re-encounter with Muller in the restaurant. Attachments:
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