Those of you who know me well understand that I have an eclectic (read nerdy) taste in films. I have a fairly high tolerance for slower moving films, films with little or no plot, and humor that is often more charming than clever. Classic films of the thirties hold a special place in my heart - I love the dialogues, the overacting, the poignancy and cinematography of many films from this era. One really popular film from the thirties was "Dinner at Eight." I have to admit, it unfolds slowly, and you may only recognize a few characters in it (Lionel Barrymore - Mr. Potter of "It's a Wonderful Life," Jean Harlow - Hollywood sexpot of the thirties, and my favorite Billie Burke - you'll remember her as Glinda the Good from "The Wizard of Oz"). The scene here is the one that makes me laugh the most in the film. Billie Burke is planning this lavish dinner to court some influential British couple visiting New York amidst family and financial crises happening all around. As the dinner slowly falls apart, poor Billie reaches her breaking point and freaks out on her daughter and husband. Every little gesture, twitch and eye movement is genius:
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4 comments:
Shut up! Shut up, I tell you!
What an awesome clip! I feel like this quite often. :) You are right. It is genius. Something reminds me of of Wicked. Perhaps it is the Glenda connection. :)
Nate
Nate:
Have you read Wicked? I'm reading it right now. I love Elphaba and I'm hoping sometime to see the musical version of it.
Love the freak-out, and love similar movies for similar reasons - though I would as you exactly what you mean by "films with no plot?" Cause I don't find that to be the case with too many of the old b/ws. The ones that endured, anyway.
Wicked: Read it/liked it a lot.
Elpaba - definitely the sympathetic character in the tale. It got a soap-operatic for me at times, but overall - amazingly clever. My biggest problem, is that the only book from the Wizard of Oz series I've read (for reference) is the main one. Lucy & I are going to try to work through the others at some point.
Dan:
Glad you liked it. We seriously need to have a movie night sometime. I've been watching/collecting classic films and would love to watch them with another enthusiast.
Looks like the musical Wicked is coming here next fall. I hope to go see it.
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