RECOMMENDED READING
Recently Rick’s Flicks recommended The Pleasure Dome by Graham Greene with only one reservation (Rick’s Flicks 1/18/20). Having now finished a second reading that collection of early film criticism by the great novelist, I have a couple of other caveats.
one reservation
Greene can’t abide Hitchcock, apparently because his creations are not realistic nor believable. So?
Alfred Hitchcock
He does make one interesting observation about the master in a passage about British films rarely exploring what the British then would call “the lower classes” : “Mr. Hitchcock sometimes indulges in crime or ‘low life’. but it is with the amused collector’s air of a specialist in sensation.”
Greene also does not admire Greta Garbo. Like many today, he lets the poor general quality of her material obscure the wonder of her work. As would Bette Davis later, Garbo triumphs over and/or elevates the screenplays given her.
Greene and Rick’s Flicks have much in common. He respects Frank Capra, and not every critic has the perspicacity to appreciate Billy Halop.
Billy Halop in Wyler’s DEAD END
Graham Greene admired good comedy and describes the best of the genre as that “in which the smallest parts are perfectly cast and played.”
Ah! Casting! – In response to Rick’s Flicks January 31 blog, reader/follower BEC brought up the question of casting and Rick’s Flicks responds with a capital-letter YES. There should be awards for casting. The work of the unsung casting director is responsible at the least for enrichment, at the most for the real success of many films. From an earlier era four Hollywood “classics” come to mind, THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, HIGH NOON and REBECCA. Some would add CASABLANCA. I think of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, down to Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway and Graham Beckel as Hathaways’s father, Randy Quaid as the herd boss, Peter McRobbie and Roberta Maxwell as Ennis’ parents. Another example of the perfect ensemble is sex, lies and videotape.
Remember Graham Green’s comment about successful comedies? Look at Hollywood comedies from the 30a and 40s. Every character is funny. If the hero goes into a store, the salesperson is hilarious. If the heroine gets involved with a bus driver, he’s funny, too. And they are cast well. But they were often typecast. Present day casting and that of the recent past has definitely moved moved beyond these types.
RECOMMENDED READING
The Pleasure Dome by Graham Greene, edited by John Russell Taylor. Oxford University Press, c1972.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
Casting By, directed by Tom Donahue. This documentary, originally aired on HBO in 1912 and later theatrically released in 2018, celebrates Marion Dougherty and other casting directors and takes a general look, through countless celebrity interviews, at the casting phenomenon.
Casting By
Tom Donohue
2012
Rick’s Flicks would like to hear from readers at as to your favorite examples of good casting.
NEXT FRIDAY POST March 27
Until then,
Enjoy a movie,
Rick
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