The best performance Chaplin never gave

On May 8, 4:19 pm, G-HE... DeleteThis @webtv.net (George Shelps) wrote:
> ulys... DeleteThis @mscomm.com (Candace)
> wrote:
>
> >Huston also has said he wanted Lee
> >Marvin to play Noah as well.
> >I'm unsure why this would be a career
> >miscalculation, it's not as if The Bible
> >was anything special as a motion
> >picture. In fact the movie is an utter
> >waste of time.
>
> Not everyone felt that way...Pauline
> Kael. for example.
>

Kael called THE BIBLE as a "flawed epic." She also called it--I love
this--"John Huston's agnostic version of the stories of Genesis."
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

On May 9, 4:30 pm, Feuillade <Feuill... RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote:
> On May 9, 6:22 pm, Phil P. <p... RemoveThis @nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 9 May 2007 13:44:11 -0700, "constance.kuriy...@ttu.edu"
>
> > <constance.kuriy... RemoveThis @ttu.edu> wrote:
> > >On May 9, 11:05 am, "mlan...@yahoo.com" <mlan... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
> > >> On May 7, 9:48 pm, G-HE... RemoveThis @webtv.net (George Shelps) wrote:
>
> > >> > Noah, in John Huston's THE BIBLE.
>
> > >> > Huston stated that he almost persuaded
> > >> > CC to play the part he eventually
> > >> > played himself.
>
> > >> > I think it was one of Chaplin's greatest
> > >> > career miscalculations. He might
> > >> > have come back as s force in film
> > >> > acting late in life.
>
> > >> It's been a long time since I saw that movie, but I think I he would
> > >> have done a very nice job as Noah. But, would he go for being
> > >> directed by someone else after so many years?
>
> > >Since he used to make fun of DeMille's biblical epics, why
> > >would he want to act in one?
>
> > >He toyed with the idea of playing Jesus, but I don't think he
> > >had epic treatment in mind.
>
> > >Connie K.
>
> > Now that might get my vote for the best performance Chaplin never gave.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> No, the best performance Chaplin never gave is the one he never gave
> in front of HUAC. :)
>
> Tom Moran- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

And done in pantomime. Perhaps a little of CC with his cane in THE
COUNT.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

I have a copy of Kael's review of Lolita in 1962 and she criticized
the casting of Mason and his performance. She enjoyed Sellers and
Shelley Winters, however.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

rfcsac627n.TakeThisOut@aol.com (Richard Carnahan)
wrote:

>>>I'm unsure why this would be a career
>>>miscalculation, it's not as if The Bible
>>>was anything special as a motion
>>>picture. In fact the movie is an utter
>>>waste of time.

>>Not everyone felt that way...Pauline
>>Kael. for example.

>Kael called THE BIBLE as a "flawed
>epic." She also called it--I love
>this--"John Huston's agnostic version of
>the stories of Genesis."

What is this? The TruthStapo?

Fact is, flawed or not, she liked the
picture.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

rfcsac627n.DeleteThis@aol.com (Richard Carnahan)
wrote:

>>Candace wrote:

>>>Pauline Kael also thought Brando's
>>>movie
>>>The Chase was stellar, so her opinion
>>>is frequently worthless. She trashed
>>>Kuhrick's Lolita as well, inanely
>>>claiming James Mason was miscast.

>>She did nothing of the kind. She praised
>>Mason and the film.

>Actually Kael wrote that Mason's "scenes
>with Lolita, when he must dominate the
>action, fall rather flat."

But actually, she liked the film.

According to a reviewer of her book
"i Lost it at the Movies,"

"So it comes as a bit of a shock to discover that I Lost It at the
Movies contains a rave review of precisely one American film — Stanley
Kubrick's LOLITA."

(PS: Candace, she didn't like THE
CHASE)
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

On May 9, 5:22 pm, Phil P. <p... RemoveThis @nospam.com> wrote:
> On 9 May 2007 13:44:11 -0700, "constance.kuriy...@ttu.edu"
>
>
>
> <constance.kuriy... RemoveThis @ttu.edu> wrote:
> >On May 9, 11:05 am, "mlan...@yahoo.com" <mlan... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> On May 7, 9:48 pm, G-HE... RemoveThis @webtv.net (George Shelps) wrote:
>
> >> > Noah, in John Huston's THE BIBLE.
>
> >> > Huston stated that he almost persuaded
> >> > CC to play the part he eventually
> >> > played himself.
>
> >> > I think it was one of Chaplin's greatest
> >> > career miscalculations. He might
> >> > have come back as s force in film
> >> > acting late in life.
>
> >> It's been a long time since I saw that movie, but I think I he would
> >> have done a very nice job as Noah. But, would he go for being
> >> directed by someone else after so many years?
>
> >Since he used to make fun of DeMille's biblical epics, why
> >would he want to act in one?
>
> >He toyed with the idea of playing Jesus, but I don't think he
> >had epic treatment in mind.
>
> >Connie K.
>
> Now that might get my vote for the best performance Chaplin never gave.

It's a fascinating idea--one of many that he never realized.

Connie K.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

Oops! You got me. Pauline Kael didn't like The Chase, thanks for
correcting me. It's perhaps understandable that I get these late 60's
atrocious Brando movies mixed up. Maybe Kael liked Reflections in a
Golden Eye, Burn! or Bedtime Story. She liked one of those limping
dogs of a movie starring Marlon.

My proof that Kael had a diseased brain is her summation of Dr.
Strangelove, one of the great movies ever made:

"Dr. Strangelove.... is a joky adolescent view of hypocritical,
sexually dirty authority figures and extending it to all adults...
with an added an extra layer of deformity."

Everyone is entitles to their own opinion, but obviously Kael liked
some truly dismal films and abhored others like Strangelove, which is
a work of genius. There's even a character modeled after George: Buck
Turgidson.

Now, returning to the original subject of CC playing Noah. He told
Geraldine he was an atheist, said something like, "I'm a non-believer.
I wish I could believe, but I cannot." I suspect John Huston also had
no stomach for religion. I believe Chaplin had to invest something of
himself into every character he played, even dark characters like
Hynckel or Verdoux. I don't see him playing a convincing Noah at all.
Had Cecil B. DeMille been alive in '66, that would have been an
inspired choice! He acquited himself very well in Sunset Blvd. So
Demille: YES! Chaplin: NO!
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

On May 13, 6:42 pm, Candace <ulys... DeleteThis @mscomm.com> wrote:
> Oops! You got me. Pauline Kael didn't like The Chase, thanks for
> correcting me. It's perhaps understandable that I get these late 60's
> atrocious Brando movies mixed up. Maybe Kael liked Reflections in a
> Golden Eye, Burn! or Bedtime Story. She liked one of those limping
> dogs of a movie starring Marlon.
>
> My proof that Kael had a diseased brain is her summation of Dr.
> Strangelove, one of the great movies ever made:
>
> "Dr. Strangelove.... is a joky adolescent view of hypocritical,
> sexually dirty authority figures and extending it to all adults...
> with an added an extra layer of deformity."
>
> Everyone is entitles to their own opinion, but obviously Kael liked
> some truly dismal films and abhored others like Strangelove, which is
> a work of genius. There's even a character modeled after George: Buck
> Turgidson.
>
> Now, returning to the original subject of CC playing Noah. He told
> Geraldine he was an atheist, said something like, "I'm a non-believer.
> I wish I could believe, but I cannot." I suspect John Huston also had
> no stomach for religion. I believe Chaplin had to invest something of
> himself into every character he played, even dark characters like
> Hynckel or Verdoux. I don't see him playing a convincing Noah at all.
> Had Cecil B. DeMille been alive in '66, that would have been an
> inspired choice! He acquited himself very well in Sunset Blvd. So
> Demille: YES! Chaplin: NO!

DeMille never would have played Noah in The Bible.

He would have held out for God.

Tom Moran
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

Good point!

I hate DeMille's politics and some other issues relating to his films
and direction, but I have to say he was a pretty good actor. I would
like to have seen him act in more films, the campier the better.

There was a juicy role for C.B. in The Ten Commandments: Dathan, who
was played by Edward G. Robinson, in one of the worst mis-castings in
cinema history. As great an actor as EGR was, this role was so alien
to him he gave a fairly ridiculous performance. C.B. would have risen
to the occasion, worn a purple skirt and ogled Debra Paget the flower
girl for all he was world.

Instead of lamenting that Chaplin never played Noah, movie lovers
should be copiously weeping that CB DeMille didn't play Dathan.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

ulysses RemoveThis @mscomm.com (Candace)
wrote:

>My proof that Kael had a diseased brain

Most people believed Kael to be one
of most eminent film critics of her day....


>is her summation of Dr. Strangelove, one
>of the great movies ever made:
>"Dr. Strangelove.... is a joky adolescent
>view of hypocritical, sexually dirty
>authority figures and extending it to all
>adults... with an added an extra layer of
>deformity."

I think DR STRANGELOVE does exhibitt
a Mad Magazine adolescent humor.


>Everyone is entitles to their own opinion,
>but obviously Kael liked some truly
>dismal films and abhored others like
>Strangelove,

She didn't abhor it.

> which is a work of genius. There's even
>a character modeled after George: Buck
>Turgidson.

But I see you've graduated from the Tom
Moran school of drive-by slurs and smears, though, to your credit you
don't gutlessly snarl at me from behind a killfile.



>Now, returning to the original subject of
>CC playing Noah. He told Geraldine he
>was an atheist, said something like, "I'm
>a non-believer. I wish I could believe, but
>I cannot." I suspect John Huston also
>had no stomach for religion.

> I believe Chaplin had to invest
>something of himself into every
>character he played, even dark
>characters like Hynckel or Verdoux. I
>don't see him playing a convincing Noah

Huston played the part and wasn't
a believer either. Chaplin would have
fit seamlessly into Huston's design,
which is why he wanted him,
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

Candace wrote:

>There was a juicy role for C.B. in The
>Ten Commandments: Dathan, who was
>played by Edward G. Robinson, in one of
>the worst mis-castings in cinema history.

Why? Dathan was a Jewish villain
and traitor and Robinson was Jewish
and played villains. Also, he was
grateful to DeMille for casting him,, despite their political
differences.

Robinson had been a victim of the
Hollywood blacklist and when DeMille
learned about that, he hired him...yeah,
that evil conservative DeMille.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

I love Robinson and think he was a truly great actor. But he was
obviously miscast in the role even if he was Jewish. The snarling New
York accent was absurd. It isn't a criticism of Robinson, who could
read the phone book aloud and be interesting. It was an over-the-top
character hammily played by EGR. He was thrown into campy sets with a
camp costume and somewhat ridiculous dialogue.

DeMille would have brought a solemnity to the role without the grating
(and out of place) NY accent. But DeMille would have refused to
lustily go after the nubile Debra Paget, this wouldn't gibe with his
Godly image.
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave 

On May 15, 8:34 pm, G-HE... RemoveThis @webtv.net (George Shelps) wrote:
> Candace wrote:
> >There was a juicy role for C.B. in The
> >Ten Commandments: Dathan, who was
> >played by Edward G. Robinson, in one of
> >the worst mis-castings in cinema history.
>
> Why? Dathan was a Jewish villain
> and traitor and Robinson was Jewish
> and played villains. Also, he was
> grateful to DeMille for casting him,, despite their political
> differences.

And he was woefully miscast. Billy Crystal does a devastating
impression of Robinson in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

>
> Robinson had been a victim of the
> Hollywood blacklist and when DeMille
> learned about that, he hired him...yeah,
> that evil conservative DeMille.

DeMille is the guy who tried to ram a loyalty oath through the
Director's Guild. Thank God John Ford stood up to him. He also
>hired< blacklisted composer Elmer Bernstein for THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS. As Brando said of CC, he was a "mixed bag."
 >> Stay informed about: The best performance Chaplin never gave