Where's Robert Harris When You Need Him? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford


I think RAH was joking with that question.

Thank you!

 

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris /forum/thread/310374/where-s-robert-harris-when-you-need-him#post_3798299

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo /forum/thread/310374/where-s-robert-harris-when-you-need-him#post_3798303

I've heard it's more than 528 pages. My current limit.

 

[JohnMor]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

They made a novelization of that movie??

 

[marsnkc]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris




My pleasure. I've been re-working my projection system, and finally was able to have it tuned today. There are wonderful reviewers on HTF and elsewhere, who can generally act as guides toward quality. ISF, Kevin Miller, who is one of a very few people that I trust with my gear, spent a number of hours today, getting things into shape. The trick is finding the ISF member in your community that really knows their stuff. I've been fortunate over the years to have worked with both Joe Kane and Kevin, and am probably spoiled that I receive precisely what I request. Hopefully, once I get my hands on a copy, I can reference The Bible.


One of the unfortunate things about biblical or religious based films, is that they generally aren't very good. Ben-Hur is the winner, along with Spartacus. King of Kings is a pretty film, but not a great one. Greatest Story Every Told is problematic, and one of the most uneven is Exodus. More modern, and following the birth of the State of Israel, it's form involves a multitude of acting styles, some bad dialogue, and oft-problematic direction. Which leaves us with the consummate classic kitsch of The Ten Commandments, which has its own peculiar charm.


At least problematic religious films play no favorites. All religions are treated equally.


RAH

"The trick is finding the ISF member in your community that really knows their stuff".


Truer words were never spoken, Robert. The first calibration I ever had done (ca. 1995, on a tube set) by an ISF-trained technician was a beaut. That guy quit to concentrate on another business so I didn't have anything done with subsequent sets until I got into Hi-Def and bought a 50" Panasonic Pro job that looked fabulous out of the box. The old nagging feeling that it might look even better got the better of me so I emailed Joe Kane to recommend someone from my area. I was always under the impression that calibration was not a subjective thing, but while the movie he used looked terrific after he was done, every other BR I loaded up afterwards looked hotter (color, contrast and the rest) than what you see at your local Walmart. It was extraordinary the amount of dialling back I had to do to get it to look natural. The only explanation I could come up with was that the set required minimal, if any, adustment (he did more talking than tweaking!) so he had to give it that 'wow' factor the big-box stores use to compensate for a billion watts of neon.

The Greatest Story Ever Told should be renamed The Greatest Bore...... It's amazing to think that George Stevens helmed this turkey. More shocking is that the awful scene with Jose Ferrer, who comes across as stiff and amateurish, was directed by your friend, the great master himself, David Lean, one of several asked by Stevens to help out on a very troubled production. Lean was in Los Angeles at the time for the premiere of a little desert movie he had made, in which the same Ferrer is sublime. I've never been able to sit through more than twenty minutes of TGSET (and that was ages ago) but I can only presume that the script was the culprit. If I can work up the courage, I might take another crack at it. Not even a Stevens or Lean can make the proverbial silk purse out of a sow'sear!


The Ten Commandments is kitsch, but of the most sublime kind (thanks for the great review!) It's another of my obsessions which I own every iteration of, including the current box set. I still have the souvenir book (a masterpiece in itself that utilized paintings of scenes instead of mere photos) from when (gasp!) it was premiered at the Ambassador in Dublin. I can still see myself walking away from the box office clutching the huge, specially printed ticket in its matching envelope, the first time, as far as I'm aware, that advance bookings were taken for a movie in Ireland.

I agree with your opinion of Exodus. Uneven isn't the word! It's by no means unwatchable, but Newman's attempt at a British accent marks a low point.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I don't see SPARTACUS or EXODUS as Biblical or religious films, but they are a cut above most of the rest mentioned.

 

[AdrianTurner]

Who was it who once described George Stevens as "the water buffalo of film art."

 

[Steve Christou]

“God is unlucky in The Greatest Story Ever Told. His only begotten son turns out to be a bore... George Stevens' direction is plodding and repetitious: whenever he has what he thinks is a fine shot, he is sure to repeat it several times; his groupings are studiedly picturesque, and a sequence like Christ's temptation in the wilderness is ludicrous throughout. Or take the scene in which the evils of everyday life are depicted in newsreel style with grainy photography, absurd in cinerama and color. Here a robbery, there a rape, yonder a murder - all taking place side by side along the main street, for Christ to look at, suffer and do nothing about. It is sheer nonsense. As for pacing, the picture does not let you forget a single one of its four hours for a moment." (John Simon)


"A big, windy bore." (Bruce Williamson, Playboy)


And I agree (though I can't remember "newsreel style grainy photography") but I still bought the DVD as soon as it was released.


Not sure I'll bother with the Blu-ray though.

 

[marsnkc]

Originally Posted by AdrianTurner


On the other hand, some critics are capable of zingers that I'd kill to have written. My favorite is the one (can't remember who it was) who said of 'The Agony and the Ecstasy': 'More Agony than Ecstasy'. Of course, some titles just beg for trouble.

 

[AdrianTurner]

Thanks for that Marsnkc. I had a hunch it was Farber and I'd pretty much agree with those rankings except, of course, for Mr Wilder's inclusion in the herd of buffalos. But about Mr Stevens's Greatest Story Ever Told. I have seen it many times - including some showings in its original Cinerama version - and it's an easy target for ridicule, what with those appalling cameos from, inter alia, Shelley Winters ("I'm cured!") and John Wayne ("Truly this man was the son of Gard."). I remember a hilarious and undoubtedly blasphemous hatchet job written by the late, great Ray Durgnat in Films and Filming in which he summaries Jesus's ability to cure people - "Of course, I only cure people with psychosomatic diseases." Yet Von Sydow is truly impressive in the role and there's a Renaissance-style, painterly quality to the picture that has its own integrity. My favourite description of the picture, though, comes from Derek Elley's seminal book The Epic Film in which the picture is described as "Brucknerian." And that makes perfect sense.

 

[Charles Smith]

"appalling cameos"


Okay, I never saw this film, but now I have to, picture quality be damned. That entire post enticed me like no other and pushed me over the edge. Time for some real Biblical Film Season Kitsch. I'll rent it. Thank you, Adrian.

 

[Robert Harris]

Some of the worst films that I've had the displeasure of viewing were created for dissemination to religious institutions going back at least to the 1920s, having hit their low point in the '50s. Crudely produced costume dramas that unfortunately found their well-meaning audiences in sunday schools and church gatherings. These "Bible stories" make even the worst Hollywood costume dramas appear to be stellar achievements. One cannot believe how bad they were. True Kitsch.


RAH

 

[Ethan Riley]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

Some of the worst films that I've had the displeasure of viewing were created for dissemination to religious institutions going back at least to the 1920s, having hit their low point in the '50s. Crudely produced costume dramas that unfortunately found their well-meaning audiences in sunday schools and church gatherings. These "Bible stories" make even the worst Hollywood costume dramas appear to be stellar achievements. One cannot believe how bad they were. True Kitsch.


RAH

They were still showing these things in Sunday schools in the 70s! I remember the nun putting some on during our religious studies so we could see "how it really happened." And she'd stand in the back by the projector nodding her head as some little biblical drama played out while us kids were like gah...! But they were still showing all those laughable 50s instructional films in the 70s too, in badly-marred prints that the schools had kept around since day one. Us 70s kids didn't miss out on any of those camp classics!

 

[bigshot]

I once saw a film like this that was created for black theaters that was excellent and not camp at all. I think it was called Blood of Jesus and it would have been from the late 30s. It was very sincere and would have been quite relevant to its target audience. I wouldn't write off the genre entirely.

 

[bigshot]

I found Blood of Jesus at archive.org. Free download... Blood of Jesus 1941

 

[marsnkc]

Originally Posted by AdrianTurner ). After umpteen takes, Stevens took an irritable Wayne aside and said, "That's terrific, John, but let's try one more - and this time put some awe into it" "Well", Wayne drawled, "why-didn'-cha-say-so!!! Roll the cameras...!!!" (Delivery identical as before): "Ahhh, truly this man was the son of Gard...!!!"


Not familiar with Bruckner, I did a quick Wiki. Apparently his detractors complained about the large size and use of repetition in his symphonies. This is certainly analogous to John Simon's take on TGSET as reported in Steve Christou's post. On the other hand, Stevens might have benefitted from Bruckner's 'propensity to revise many of his works, often with the assistance of colleagues'. Of course, Stevens didn't have the luxury to revise anything, but since David Lean was one of his (albeit unprepared and reluctant) 'colleagues' on the production, one might charitably ascribe some sort of curse to the project, or judgment gone haywire. The latter happens to the best, the great Billy Wilder being no exception.

 

[Professor Echo]

I wonder if there are any theologians or those of the cloth in our midst who would care to weigh in on these cinematic religious epics or even the regional/industrial/? Sunday school shorts that RAH and Ethan posted about. I am always interested in the reflections of "experts" when seeing a film that is related to their expertise.


I interviewed two priests many years ago about THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST and both had nothing but praise for the film. In fact, though interviewed separately and with no knowledge of the other, they both said exactly the same thing: That Scorsese was able to depict things that they themselves could never quite visualize when reading the scriptures. They were each huge proponents of the movie. (I also wanted to discuss THE EXORCIST, but neither had seen it!).

 

Speaking of religious films, Jesus of Nazareth is a film masterpiece. Truly a work of art. For my money, no other film about the life of Christ comes close to it. You really feel as if you are walking alongside Jesus. Even though it was a television production (with a few theatrical showings in Europe) it is masterfully shot, expertly written, and magnificently acted. The music is breathtaking and the 6 hour running time flies by.

 

[24fpssean]

Last Temptation would make one hell of a blu ray, the visuals, the score. Having just watched the KOK BD, I can see what basis Scorsese used for LTOC: the clumsy American accents (Galileans were always being ridiculed for their "quaint" accents, being from the Syrian north), certain shots (camera mounted on the top of the cross as it's tilted upwards, deep focus lens to get extreme close ups and sharp medium shots at the same time). It's as if he took all the Biblical films he liked as a child and filtered them into his creations. A strange, awkward, deeply felt film.


Ten Commandments, though a stunning blu ray, is agony to sit through for me. I knew it well as a child and even then wondered at the stilted acting and studio-bound action. It's suffocating. When you think of the marvelous cinema that had been made just before then - Black Narcissus, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The African Queen - and then this thing gets released in 1956 feeling and acting like a film made in a 1927 sound stage, it's amazing. But the kitsch has helped it, apparently.


On a side note, my father's cousin and her best friend are in the Bacchanal sequence; they were in the Ballet Russe together and when the BR began to fall apart they got work in Hollywood. My cousin, Roberta, is the girl at the extreme left of the frame stomping grapes in a vat as the camera (moving for once!) rolls past. And her friend Betty is lolling about on the Golden Calf. She has some stories about those days shooting that scene!

 

[marcco00]

Originally Posted by eric scott richard

Speaking of religious films, Jesus of Nazareth is a film masterpiece. Truly a work of art. For my money, no other film about the life of Christ comes close to it. You really feel as if you are walking alongside Jesus. Even though it was a television production (with a few theatrical showings in Europe) it is masterfully shot, expertly written, and magnificently acted. The music is breathtaking and the 6 hour running time flies by.

i totally agree....this is the best version of the Jesus story, to my mind-- a great piece of storytelling on film.


aside from the demille films, somehow, films based strictly on the bible don't seem to translate well, to me.


zeffirelli was one of the few directors to create a real masterwork from the story of Jesus.


with the transfer on the current dvd being kinda old....this really could use a nice restoration (with all those pauses for the tv commercials taken out so the film runs more smoothly).