Update: Strangers on a Train (1951)

"I certainly admire people who do things." - Bruno

My second viewing of this film went really well. It was great to see it on the big screen in a proper theatre with good friends close by. I managed to successfuly maintain a steady breathing pattern, most noticeably through the party scene. However, there were moments in which I felt that my heart would leap out of my chest. This film is thrilling and creepy on a psychological level and it didn't lose much of its potency the second time around.

It's funny the things you forget about a film over time. My memory bank seems to have deleted (or just plain neglected) some things from my first viewing. The opening sequence with the camera following two different pairs of shoes (Bruno's flashy ones and Guy's practical ones) and the really cool shot of the murder shot through the reflection of the lense of a pair of glasses were both welcome surprises. I quite enjoyed the creepiness the infamous tennis court scene where Bruno's gaze is firmly fixed on Guy while everyone else in the stands follows the ball back and forth. And I had forgotten how thrilling the musical carousel-gone-awry scene was! I believe at one point during that scene my jaw dropped and stayed dropped for a considerable amount of time.

I am glad that now I can be thrilled, and not emotionally traumatized, by this film. I don't know if I will be able to say the same for The Night of the Hunter (1955), but we'll see.

My Prized Posession

My well-loved copy of the Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide (ISBN-13: 978-0-4522-8620-7) is a familiar sight in my apartment. Unlike most books in my personal library, it is not shelved amongst other tomes. It is often found in a convenient spot; on the sofa, next to my computer, near the TV or on the coffee table. Convenience is key and I take supreme pleasure in thumbing through its pages and poring over the lenthy list of films referenced within. And it is, at all times, accompanied by a red felt pen.

This book is very much a part of my film-viewing experience. With my red pen in hand, I document films seen by drawing a star next to a particular selection. The back of the book boasts an index of stars and directors with their films listed below their respective names. I always make sure to underline which of their films I've seen to get a better idea of how familiar I am with their work. This all might seem quite mundane and boring. However, watching films is rarely a physical, tangible experience. It is all in the mind. Being able to connect something physical to the mental is supremely reassuring to me which is why this methodical documentation enhances the experience to me.

I highly recommend this guide for any of you out there who are classic film fans. It boasts an impressive list of films and enough of a synopsis of each film to either pique the interest (or serve as a refresher). However, this book is not without some flaws. Obscure silents or lesser-known '30s comedies are noticeably missing [much to my dismay I couldn't find Lady of the Night (1925) or There's Always a Woman (1938) ]. Also, the cut-off is 1960, so I'm at a loss to document my favorite '60s films, of which I have many. And because the book was published in 2005 and Plume has no immediate plans to update its contents, listed DVD availability is very out-of-date.

Yet this guide, even with its flaws, is my ultimate classic movie companion and one of my most prized posessions.

Strangers on a Train (1951)

The time has come for me to come to terms with this movie. My first viewing happened during a very difficult time in my life, in which I was struggling with the impending deaths of two loved ones. I was emotionally raw and exposed to the full brunt of anything even remotely unsettling. In hindsight, I should have stayed away from films such as this, but with my other experiences with pre-Psycho Hitchcock, I probably thought I was relatively safe with this film. Boy, was I wrong.

I must give kudos to the great Alfred Hitchcock for creating a film that was truly scary indeed. I remember it was a sunny afternoon, on a seemingly innocent day, when I popped the DVD of this film into the player. As engrossing as Hitchcock films often are, I was swept into the story immediately. Then, sometime into the film, came the scene that harshly struck the chord that twanged and sent disonant reverberations right through me.

It was the party scene with Robert Walker as Bruno, a man who had trapped Guy, played by Farley Granger, into a sordid deal; a murder for a murder. With a nervous Guy in the background, Bruno carried on a conversatin with two older ladies about murder and how one would successfully suffocate another person. Bruno, to my utter dismay, proceeds to demonstrate the correct technique one of the ladies' throats. He tightens his grip on her windpipe, then freezes when he sees Barbara, played by Hitchock's daughter Patricia, in the background. All the while staring at her, he is still choking the little old lady. He cannot bring himself to let go and has to be pulled off of her.

At that moment, I started to hyperventilate. I could not catch my breath. I stopped the movie immediately and ran out of the room gasping for air. I must have been so terrified during the scene that I had just stopped breathing altogether, as though Bruno was choking me! Quite traumatized by the experience, it took me a full week before I could watch the remaining length of the movie (careful, of course, to avoid the scene that, literally, took my breath away).

I am a firm believer that what you get from a film depends on what point you are in your life when you see it. Right now, I'm in a good place and feel that I could watch it again. So on Monday, I will watch Strangers on a Train (1951), properly, in an actual theatre, in the dark and I won't be scared.

I hope...

Next Stop: The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Sexiest Scenes in Film History: Part Two

I had so much fun compiling a list of what I thought were some of the sexiest scenes in film history that I thought I'd come up with 8 more sizzling scenes to share. These are scenes that seethe sex even with the imposed restrictions placed upon them by either the Hayes Code (with the exception of most pre-codes) or societal mores. They are remarkable in that their power is not in the showing but in the suggesting. If subtely is something you appreciate, like I do, then there is no question you will enjoy (or have enjoyed) these sultry scenes.

1. To Catch a Thief (1955) - Hitchcock was well-versed in the power of suggestion. He took advantage of Grace Kelly's sexual allure and Cary Grant's deobonairre persona to create electricity on the screen. One could even say the chemistry between the two main characters was "explosive". The scene in question has Kelly and Grant, in a hotel room, in the dark sharing a passionate kiss while fireworks go on outside. Fireworks, of course, suggest something else happens shortly after. (link is the trailer)



2. Young Man with a Horn (1950) - Kirk Douglas stars as a trumpeter who should fall in love with the angelic Doris Day but cannot help being seduced by femme fatale Lauren Bacall. They are married but frustrations grow as he realizes she has little to no desire for him. After much turmoil, Douglas' character confronts his wife when she is out with another woman. Yikes!



3. Baby Doll (1956) - I often forget this was a film from the '50s and not from the '60s, as I usually classify it in my mind. It's so ahead of it's time. Eli Wallach is hot in this film. And I mean hot! He plays a Sicilian cotton-gin supervisor who likes to torment and tease another man's 19-year old wife. The girl, played by Carroll Baker, isn't quite capable of consuming her marriage as she's stuck in a little-girl mindset, which is probably her way of coping with growing up before she was ready. The infamous swing scene has Wallach's character seducing Baker's, who only pretends not to be interested. Very steamy. (link is the trailer)



4. The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) - Elements of this film are sexual, but in the wrong way. Queen Norma Shearer plays invalid Elizabeth Barrett who is kept in her weakened condition without possibility of improvement by her overbearing father, played by Charles Laughton. Laughton did an excellent job at suggesting the father's incestuous infatuation with his daughter by evoking his conflicting passions through his eyes. The most uncomfortable scene is when the daughter tried to walk and he sweeps her off her feet and carries her away. Eek!



5. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - It's New Orleans, the air is hot and dense with humidity, which makes the characters all that more bothered and restless. Besides Brando being absolutely gorgeous in every scene, the Brando/Stanley-Hunter/Stella-Leigh/Blanche sexual triangle is unsettling because each of the character's is not in their right mind. Stanely is frustrated, Stella is frustrated and Blanche is just plain off her rocker. Many of the scenes in this film are very sexy, but there is one that stands out. Stella descends the stairs towards Stanley, who's shirt is barely hanging on by a thread, she pulls him towards her and runs her hands down his muscular back. Is it hot in here or is it just me? (link is the trailer)


6. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) - Sex is on the mind of every character in this film. Not sex in general but the lack of sex between the young married couple played by Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. While only very subtly suggested in the film, Newman's character is dealing with the internal conflict of being married to an attractive woman but still holding onto to the repressed homosexual attraction to his now deceased friend. Taylor's character is sexually frustrated and it doesn't help that his family blames her for not having had a child yet. To me the most sizzling of scenes is when Taylor wraps her arms around Newman pleading for sexual attention only to have him break free from her grip for the umpteenth time. Poor thing. (link is the trailer)


7. Red Dust (1932) - I couldn't create this new list without including a Jean Harlow film. This film, which was later remade as Mogambo (1953), stars Clark Gable as a plantation overseer who has conflicting desires for floozy Jean Harlow and married Mary Astor. There are numerous sexy scenes in this film. Harlow naked in an outdoor bathtub, being man-handled by Gable. The howling wind conveniently moving up Harlow's skirt revealing her slender gams. The sexiest one is when Gable roughly pulls Harlow onto his lap, kissing her. This is the culmination of all the sexual tension between them. (link is the trailer)


8. Design for Living (1933) - I am still surprised that this film was ever made. Miriam Hopkins stars as a woman who cannot decide between which of her two boyfriends (Gary Cooper and Frederich March) to keep, so she decides to keep them both in her life and moves in with them but forgoes a sexual relationship with either. Neither of the two men are happy about her decision but at the same time do they don't want to walk away and let the other snag her. The sexiest scene takes place in a car where Hopkins sits between her two beaus and plants a kiss on one then turns to plant a kiss on the other. Talk about sharing. Wow!