Posted on 12/25/2008 4:17:14 PM PST by NYer
Fascinating to learn the difference in reactions to colorized vs black and white.
Interesting story!
I must admit, I do like the colorized version of Laurel and Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” and even the 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol,” but “It’s a Wonderful Life” always looked awful to me in color - cartoonish.
To each his own, I guess.
someone ought to make a movie about what would have happened if they hadn’t made it.
The 1951 film “A Christmas Carol” with Alistair Sim as Scrooge is my favorite Christmas movie. I simply can’t imagine watching it in color..
IIRC the movie was "Babes in Toyland" and was an early Technicolor release.
The movie was so horrible, that I don't believe it was ever shown again. (or at least I've never seen mention of it again in the TV guides)
Could be! The color really looks good. Thanks.
Since I see you're both fans of Christmas Carol, I'd like to suggest a lesser known 1997 version with Patrick Stewart and Joel Grey amongst others.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216621/
As you said, cvq, to each his own, but in my eyes, this movie is perfection from start to finish. The acting, the costumes, the cinematography, the music, absolutely breath-taking. And the role of “Fred” (Scrooge's nephew) played by Dominic West a small but memorable part is incredible. At the risk of sounding sappy, I actually looked up this guy's other roles to see what else he was in.
I won't suggest you buying a copy from Amazon, like I did, but if you happen to see it while flipping around next year, consider giving it a watch.
I remember seeing a (fake) "Director's Cut" alternate ending.
In the final, heartwarming scene, Uncle Billy suddenly remembered what he did with the $5,000 and led a seething mob to Old Man Potters place where they ripped him limb from limb.
IMHO Capra's ending was better.
That was SNLive
I would suggest Patrick Stewart's reading of the Dickens story as well. He used to perform it on Broadway a few years back - a one-man show - and he committed his reading to audiobook some time ago.
Merry Christmas!
I also greatly enjoyed the Patrick Stewart-led version of A Christmas Carol. Great acting, great production values, etc.
I am just wondering re a technical question. I saw on Shurik's journal (shuriks.com) a list of ten best films that I thought summed it up. There was also a copyright sign. I presume that meant I cannot list those films on this thread. Sorry, I have forgotten how to make a link. There were also others, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Charlie Brown's Christmas" that I think are classics.
btw, Fox has had Christmas themes, Nancy Grace used today's show to honor our military men. But, as far as I can tell, not a word from MSNBC that it is Christmas. Yesterday, they had prison shows, today they had a child molestation case, right now they show a rehash of Caylee Anthony's murder.
You can catch It’s a Wonderful Life, here.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4867975537967299162
I’m not sure how long it will be there.
My mother told me once that she and her husband-to-be (and my father-to-be)
went to see “It’s A Wonderful Life” in the original release.
And that they liked it, but it had been not a roaring success.
Reading about Stewart returning (somewhat traumatized) from his
tour of duty in B-17s over Europe...I guess he was somewhat despirited
by the less-than-stellar success of the film.
But all I can say is thanks to Mr. Stewart, Mr. Capra and everyone
that made the film.
I can be pretty cynical, but I admit I got a bit misty when I saw the
film the first time during it’s “unprotected” period on TV.
Stewart’s most desparate moments during the film have the authenticity
of a man that had seen such ugly things in war that death/suicide
sounds like a perfectly rational and soothing option.
It’s a heck of a film, and amazing honest and blunt about
the struggle for an “American dream” when it runs up against the
soul-free and ethics-free bad-boys of commerce, as embodied by “Mr. Potter”.
I've heard the general story several times, and don't doubt it. But, under the studio system, did a film that was nominated five times truly lose money? That's a bigger surprise, if true.
The film's history would not be sullied if it had been a hit at the time. Can anyone confirm its "flop" status?
"Babes in Toyland" was a different movie (done in 1961 featuring Annette Funicello) with a similar theme to the 1934 Laurel and Hardy movie.
I'll never understand lawyer "logic" - other than the only way to sort it out is with a street sweeper and a drum magazine.
I can't figure out if he thinks it's a good thing that they managed to twist the law into a pretzel to get what they wanted. If the dog-in-the-manger types had had their way, the movie's unremembered and unmourned silver nitrate prints would be rotting in a backlot warehouse somewhere, and all our lives would be a little bit poorer.
I guess that Scrooge would be a lawyer in a new Dickens' America...
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