Peppermint Friday Review #42: The Prince and the Showgirl

From watching Some Like It Hot I kinda went abit crazy over Marilyn Monroe and plus I just realised I haven't done a Friday review with Marilyn yet, I did All About Eve but that was before she became the big star, with this one its so amazing and a film is based on her experiences of this film, My Week With Marilyn which I may do a review on. 

Its about a Carpathian Prince (played by Laurence Olivier) who attends a performance of The Coconut Girl and meets the cast afterwards he takes a particular liking to Elsie Marina (played by Marilyn Monroe) she is invited back to his house to her thinking it was for a party or a big dinner but it was for the Prince to seduce her, the two end up falling in love and its just about her being an American Showgirl and a Prince who's used to doing things in quite a restricted way. As his upbringing is very much don't do this, say this and constantly being told what to do, whereas with Elsie she is very bubbly and is much more outspoken than the Prince, even though if he doesn't like something he'll say it.

I love the couple individually and together, but if you knew what happened behind the scenes where Laurence Olivier was horrible to Marilyn. Olivier also directed this film and acted in the play version of the film by Terrence Rattigan, Olivier's wife Viven Leigh played Elsie in the play version, which is really funny as we all know what kinda characters Marilyn plays and the characters Viven plays, you wouldn't think they could ever play the same character. But Marilyn really bought something different and special to the role, its a flirty character, but also very emotional and empathetic.

The costumes of the film were just beautiful, and wonderfully made as all the characters had a particular style, I love Elsie's dress the colour, the length, the style of it all, I just love it and need it plus she makes it look gorgeous. The party scene was amazing everything was in such synchronicity with the dancing, not one person was off. I also loved Sybil Thorndike as Queen Dowager she was just wonderful, one thing I loved about the script and the writing of it all was whenever Elsie spoke to her, the Queen had to be reminded of what she said it made me laugh for some reason I don't know why. 

I love how the scenes were shot and made its as if they were created just there on the spot so effortlessly done. A few characters who made it on the favorite list were, King Nicolas who was played by Jeremy Spenser I loved his voice whenever he shouted or lost his temper, it was always really high and it made me laugh. Northbrook played by Richard Wattis was brilliant loved how he used his voice. All of Elsie's friends were just brilliant, so funny and amazing totally unaware of what pressure she may be under. 

                                                                   
The ending was amazingly done, I like that its kinda up to us, as to what happened between them, did they ever meet again or was there classes far too different from each other. I might actually do a review of My Week With Marilyn as I always find it interesting the behind the scenes of films. This is a wonderful film to watch with a great story to tell, whether you are a long time fan of Marilyn or just heard about her, regardless you should definitely watch her as she is a real star. 

Review: Some Like It Hot

Its been awhile since I talked about a classic and I was having a bit of a bad day and what do you do on a bad day? you watch one of your favourite films of course. It's also one of my mum and dad's favourite films and one of the first films that got me into Classic Films. 

If you don't know what this film is about I'll give you a brief synopsis as everyone has seen this film. Its about two men Joe and Jerry (played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who are Jazz Musicians and they have to get out of town so they get jobs as Jazz Musicians on tour the only problem is, that it's only female Jazz Musicians. So Joe and Jerry go undercover dressed as women called Josie and Daphne they meet Sugar who is the lead vocalist (played by Marilyn Monroe) they make friends with her and Josie/Joe falls in love with her by pretending to be a millionaire. 

It is such a funny film, I like that its been out since 1958 and yet its still funny and brilliant. I don't think I've met anyone who's said a bad word about this film, its either they love it or they haven't seen it. Its got so many memorable quotes and I mean its got Marilyn Monroe that's already an amazing film, and I've spoken about Marilyn in depth before but I always love talking about her. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are so brilliant and they bounce off each other so well, with both of them being funny and none of them being boring at the same time.

Both of them have such different personalities Joe/Josie starts off being serious and getting the job done, whereas Jerry/Daphne is taking is seriously but can't help but love being around beautiful women, Joe/Josie ends up falling in love with Sugar by pretending to be a millionaire. Jerry/Daphne pulls Osgood Fielding III (played by Joe E Brown) who is completely smitten by her and has the hilarious line in the end 'nobody's perfect'. It's great with comedy especially with duos as its always one person has to be the clown and the other has to be a little be serious the 'straight one' as we say in comedy. 

One of the things I find when watching this film is that its such a classic and I know people's comedy tastes are different and they've changed over time but you can't beat two men dressed as women that is a classic its worked for hundreds of years, and will still carry on working, its funny as its just over 2 hours but it doesn't feel like it which for me indicates that's its a good film. I should say also this film is Directed by Billy Wilder who is just a legend in the directing world if you know your film history, and he also directed Sabrina in which I did a review on. 

                                                                  
The only thing that slightly frustrated me was the end where Sugar didn't really care too much that her friend was a guy and was cat-fishing her, but hey its a film and Marilyn Monroe so i'm not gonna judge her too harshly on that. Its also a film I'd recommend to anyone who isn't into or hasn't seen Classic films, as it's a light hearted comedy with Marilyn Monroe. It's an amazing film that everyone should watch and enjoy, if you haven't already I'll speak to you all soon have a wonderful day/evening wherever you are. 

Peppermint Friday Review #30: All About Eve

We're gonna talk about All About Eve as its so good and has the fabulous Bette Davis along with a brief appearance from Marilyn Monroe, and this is a film that I've mentioned before, and I'm gonna talk about it in full detail. Plus I saw this film mention in a Buzzfeed post and it was about films with the sub-text of lesbianism, so why not talk about it.

The story is about a woman called Eve played by Anne Baxter and she is this young, beautiful starlet who loves an actress called Margo Channing played by Bette Davis, and she is this huge Broadway star, who is worried that her nearing 40 will result in her decline in popularity. Eve becomes Margo's assistant and adores Margo, as Margo likes her until she starts to become more jealous of Eve as she tries on her costumes and overtime she becomes Margo understudy, and Margo is more paranoid. 

I love this film, although any Bette Davis film is a winner for me so its not a surprise. But this film is in Bette Davis's later career as Of Human Bondage is her when she's a lot younger, and there are differences in the characters she played but it's practically the same woman just abit older and a difference in accent dialect. As she was English in Of Human Bondage and was her usual American in All About Eve. You could look at the character similar to that of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard the film and the musical. With it being this ageing starlet and someone may or not be taking advantage of her, in this case I don't believe Eve is taking advantage of Margo, I think she is genuine.

Love Anne Baxter as Eve, as she wasn't a stereotypical crazy fangirl or some spoilt cow she was just a normal girl who liked a play and the actress in it and wanted to meet her and perhaps be as good as her. It was all played very naturalistic and that the problem some people have in the modern age about classic films, people just think all the actors can't act and they stilll think they're on stage shouting making things huge. Yes that does happen but its not every film, like with some films now, some are good, some are just awful, nothing's changed but everything's changed if that makes sense. 

With this film, and with all Bette Davis films I feel, theres a sub-text of sarcastic, sardonic humour with at the same time it being very real and naturalistic and not over the top. As with the 50s I'm guessing it was either I Love Lucy, Musicals and Slapstick Clown Comedy or you were a Bette Davis or a Shirley Maclaine kinda person which is great as you've got the best of both worlds. In terms of costume again just brilliantly done, love how they matched each costume to each particular character like with Bette Davis's character yes she is a bitter woman, but that doesn't mean she has to look awful. 

 In terms of the plot of the story its all understandable as to why she became jealous and envious of Eve as it literally turned into 'All About Eve' and Margo obviously was like 'Aren't I good enough?' I love that with this film when it was made and released it had a young Marilyn Monroe before she did any big films, like before we knew we she really was and after she became a big star they put her name in the poster of the film even though she has one scene in the whole film. 

It kinda turned into a Tall Poppy scenario really as those of you who don't know what that means its basically, when someone or a band wants to do really well in something and someone goes 'I want them to do well, go them!' and they do and are successful and that same person goes 'you've changed, you can't do that' Its the whole 'you can do well and succeed but not as good as me' and that's something we're all at fault with, being jealous of someone's success. Its a backstabbing kinda thing in this film as well, as you've got Margo who's finally found this amazing woman she can be friends with in her stream of life at her age. Then suddenly it seems like Eve was only being friends with her for success, as if there was something in it for her. 

                                                             
Nearing the end of the film the pattern starts again, where Eve gets a very nice fan who wants to be like her. This film is about letting go of the thing you love the most, its about jealousy of being young and beautiful, its about knowing what's geniune and whats not. Its a film that tackles with alot emotions that we as human comprehend and the fact that this was made in the 1950s and is still relevant I feel today, as again we all experience jealousy and letting go of something, theres a quote somewhere ''When it's over leave. Don't continue watering a dead flower'. That's very true in this film, I'm gonna go now and I hope you have a good weekend. 

Peppermint Friday Review #25: Suddenly Last Summer

This film is quite a serious one, as the story touches on some pretty hardcore issues and the acting talent is brilliant and an amazing story. Next week will have alot more structure to it, and it will be lighter and less serious, to balance it out a bit. 

This is the first time I'll be talking about Katharine Hepburn, which is much needed and the second time I'll be talking about a Tennessee Williams classic. The story is about Catherine Holly played by Elizabeth Taylor she has had a mental breakdown and was sent to an institution due to her cousin Sebastian who died under mysterious circumstances whilst on holiday. Sebastian's rich mother Violet Venable played by Katharine Hepburn denies her son's truth over what happened, and tries to bribe by getting them a new wing for the hospital. Dr Lawrence J Hockstader and Dr John Cukrowicz both played by Albert Dekker and Montgomery Clift to perform a lobotomy to Catherine.

There's a million and one things that happen in this story that just so juicy, but that would be ruining such a brilliant story and I can't do that to you guys. First of all this story is quite an adult based one as its very dark and deals with some quite serious issues. Elizabeth Taylor's acting performance in this is just beautiful, she delivers a woman who is struggling with the terms of her cousin's death, going through a mental breakdown and having her Aunt want her to have a lobotomy thinking that will make things better. 

Katharine Hepburn is fantastic, although it is slightly predictable as thats the kinda character she usually plays, the sharp tongued, outspoken sometimes bitter woman. She did do a very good job, despite thats the role she usually plays but that can't be helped. I've always been a big fan of Katharine Hepburn's voice and backstory in particular as she is very intriguing she came from a political family with a suffragette mother and her brother committed suicide when she was only 10, it had a real affect on her growing up into the woman she is. I find her quite sharp voice very interesting and brilliant to listen to as there wasn''t that many Actresses at that time who had that sort of voice. 

Montgomery Clift was brilliant at conjuring what happened, he was the audience in the story if you will, he was asking all the questions that we as the audience were asking as to what was going on, and what happen to Sebastian. This was during Montgomery's later career, when he was even more moodier and sensitive, Albert Dekker was brilliant even though I haven't seen him in that many things he was very good. Montgomery's facial expressions were just brilliant he delivers the words so perfectly its just off the cuff and no second thoughts about it they were said they way they needed to be said. 

The costumes of the film were brilliant if a little boring, but then again the costumes for a film like this shouldn't be stylish but Elizabeth Taylor's swimsuit was beautiful, and her dress it fitted with her character so well, as did Katharine Hepburn's it was stylish for the elderly and that sounds like a backhanded compliment, but I didn't mean it that way, if I dressed the way Katharine Hepburn dresses in this film when I'm that age I'll be a very happy girl. Although her hair has alot to be desired, but each to their own. 

I love the dynamic between Catherine and Violet as they are so unique characters in their own right. Catherine is so vulnerable and Violet is very hard faced and a part of me wants to say she's conservative, if thats how you describe someone. The differences between them as actresses is amazing, you already have the age difference and different styles of acting overall they both act upon instinct, but Katharine Hepburn has had a much more formal training that Elizabeth as she's been doing it since she was a little girl.

I just want to reiterate how impressed I was with Elizabeth's performance she was going through a really tough time in real life. Her husband Mike Todd had just died in an airplane accident, and she cleverly used her real life situation while explaining what happened last summer with Sebastian, Catherine's cousin. When she was telling Dr John Cukrowicz about what Sebastian did to her on the beach and what he made her wear last summer, it was just one of the most emotional pieces of dialogue and acting I ever saw. In her performance I could feel all her emotions and I just got her, and it was brilliant.

                                                                

This story is amazing and it is hard to get into at first as I can agree its not the easiest film to watch. But when you get into it and you will, you won't regret it It is quite an adult film in terms of themes but its amazing with brilliant actors and the brilliant dialogue. I will talk to you all later and have a lovely weekend. 

Review: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

This week is gonna be a lot less harder than it was last week, not to say it won't be intellectual and insightful, as this film is just different in genres. Plus this is a film that I really want to talk about, and I haven't done talked about Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in this detail before or ever really, so thats what we're gonna do. 

Its about a Southern couple Maggie 'The Cat' and Brick Pollitt played by Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, Brick is trying to reconnect to his athletic high school days and tragically injures his knee. The next day he and Maggie visit to celebrate Big Daddy's 65th Birthday who is played by Burt Ives. Brick and Maggie find out that Big Daddy has cancer and will die in a year, Maggie wants the large inheritance and encourages Brick to spend time with him to get in Big Daddys good books. Throughout the film its parallels of family struggle and relationship troubles.

I love Elizabeth Taylor as an Actress and of course a Fashion Icon, there is no doubt she looks absolutely gorgeous in this film. It got me thinking that if Maggie was a middle aged woman or just hideously ugly would people still like her? Elizabeth Taylor makes the role look so sexy and brilliant. Her character was so real in a way as she did things that were so childish and irrelevant to this relationship and she did things that were quite grown up and mature in a way, for instance she got quite jealous when Brick had a best friend called Skipper who got to spend more time with him, Skipper committed suicide and she wanted to ruin their relationship, which to me makes no sense and just a stupid thing for someone to do. She portrayed this character so brilliantly and with such instinct to the role. 

Paul Newman was brilliant, he portrayed a man who lost all his glory days and was deeply unhappy. Its funny because he had a beautiful wife who loved him but was a very selfish woman. I haven't seen Paul Newman in many films, so I can't comment on he as an Actor too much as I haven't seen him in many roles, but I will watch him in more films. Brick as a character was so depressing and just sad to watch, but he is a better person than Maggie even though they are both incredibly flawed. The thing is both of them annoyed me equally so I don't have a favorite out of either of them.

Minor characters that are mentioned like Big Daddy was very good and the typical terrifying father figure, who deep down has a real insecurity like Brick has. Characters like Big Mama, Mae Flynn especially Mae Flynn were so annoying it was like fingernails to a chalk board just her voice was so irritating. I can understand the family aspect that was very Southern, or stereotypical Southern family. Being very friendly, polite and courteous, but it was very deep Mississippi accent, and particularly the style. 

                                                         
It was originally a Play by Tennessee Williams, and as we all know the works of Tennessee Williams is always brilliant and discussed everywhere. This film is fantastic to watch and I feel the best of Elizabeth Taylor's acting talents. Definitely give this film a watch for brilliant acting performances and gorgeous scenery set in the deep south of America. 

Peppermint Friday Review #21: Sabrina

So to end the wonderful week, we're gonna talk about a film that I love very much that stars two of my favorite people Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart and I did mention it in a post a couple of weeks ago. It was also directed by the same man who directed The Seven Year Itch which I did a review of at the start of this week. 

The story is about a girl called Sabrina (played by Audrey Hepburn) who has been in love with a guy called David Larrabee (played by William Holden) who doesn't really return the favor. Sabrina tries to commit suicide due to it, but fails but David's older brother Linus (played by Humphrey Bogart) intervenes she then goes to Paris to go to cooking school she returns home after two years and looks completely different, stunning, new attitude adjustment.

First of all the costumes are stunning, then again its hard to make Audrey look awful even when before Sabrina went to Paris she looked beautiful. But when she got back she just looked abit more groomed shall we say, and much more glamorous. Even with William Holden and Humphrey Bogart's characters looked amazing, with there character arcs and I know that they just wore suits but for the characters and the personality types they looked amazing. Thats my girly bit of the review done for a bit, but we all know

I loved Sabrina as a character, I saw allot of myself in her that she wears her heart on her sleeve which can be a bad thing, but a very human thing and thats something I love about her. Linus is so brilliant and opposite from Sabrina I actually love that they develop feelings for each other as the film goes on from the character development from Sabrina at the beginning of the film lusting after a man who clearly doesn't show the same affection back, to the end of the film where she's beautiful, graceful and a woman who knows her worth.

The script was so flawless and I loved the way they said the lines that needed to be said in that way. William Holden's character David was the perfect mix of arrogance and charm, the way I describe it is Gaston who went to finishing school and actually tried hard and completed it. In some ways this film is a mixture of Beauty and The Beast with Sabrina being Belle, David, Gaston and Humphrey The Beast, and a modern romance film that wants the characters to get together you know, like a Team David and Team Linus sort of thing. 

Now you all know this by now, I'm not a fan of chick flicks, romcoms things like that, but when it comes to Classic films that have romantic bits and are largely romantic in terms of genre, who has a Hollywood star in like Audrey, Marilyn or Veronica Lake or whoever I like the list goes on I will 100% watch that film. Billy Wilder who directed this film, is a fantastic director who is well known to direct Romantic films with an edge of Comedy to it.
                                                                       
I think you should all know that there is a 1995 remake of this film, which isn't as good as this one, even though it has Harrison Ford in but this one has Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, so who wins? Not that I don't like Harrison Ford he's brilliant but its Audrey and Humphrey. This film and story is so beautiful to watch even if you're not a huge romance fan you will still love this film, as there are some funny bits of the film which are incorporated in brilliantly by the wonderful directing of Billy Wilder. I will talk to you all next week, and have a lovely weekend!

Review: The Seven Year Itch

Now this week, is gonna be an Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe week, as they are both very different but both were very successful around the same time. They are also not only brilliant actresses and women I highly admire but also they're fashion and sex icons, which is new to me to talk about. But I shall talk about that on Wednesday! 

We all know this film, predominantly from the icon Marilyn Monroe picture of her with the white dress standing on top of vent and the dress, yup we all know the scene and pictures. But the story goes abit deeper than that, yes her character is very free and relaxed but not slutty. It's about this man called Richard Sherman who is abit nerdy and talks to himself quite often, and he tends to overthink and has a very wild imagination. He is married and has a child who are in Maine, and he is in New York working through the summer. He lives near a woman who is Marilyn Monroe, and she is an Actress who is very glamorous and its Richard's imagination that the main thing of the story.

I love this film, the costumes are great then again the costumes in the 1950s will always be appealing to me so its a given. The film was originally a stage play which I can completely understand with as Richard's imagination and tendency to overthink would be quite fun to portray on stage. I love the bit where Marilyn says something along the lines of 'Not all girls find handsome men, or men that have confidence particularly attractive' I can't quite remember but I like that because it is true in many cases, girls and boys are attracted to what they're attracted to.

Marilyn's character and I think in her true character aswell, are very beautiful and they know they're beautiful, but she's not insecure about it or arrogant and cocky about it, she is very casual with it. Thats something I don't think people get from watching her in much more serious films, than in comedy films. But I will talk about her in much more depth in the Wednesday blog post. In this film, she proved that she is perceptive and doesn't just think about men all the time, and isn't this ditzy blonde girl.

I think Richard's stream into madness is what I really love about this film. It is accurate to what a person with anxiety is and I know its very farfetched from this being a romantic comedy and I'm jumping it to what its like with someone who has a mental illness. But Richard overthinks allot mainly around Marilyn as she is this beautiful woman and he is a man who has been married for 7 years has a child and boom he is faced with this gorgeous woman who lives just above him, and he's going mad.

One moment of the film that I loved was when Richard tried to kiss Marilyn, and he then started to imagine what would happen if word got out that he is a married man and kissed another woman and he didn't do gently he did it quite aggressively in a sexual way. I loved how intense he thought it would be and how his wife would react and how Marilyn would talk about it on TV and how crazy it was. That something that made me laugh, and made me like the film even more, as in comedy sometimes the funny thing can be quite vulnerable and absurd.

                                                                       
I adore this film, I love Marilyn in all her films, her serious, dark, mysterious side and her funny, blonde and ditzy side.I'm not that big into romantic comedies or chick flick, but when it comes to Audrey and Marilyn or any Classic Hollywood Actress that I love I'm all over it. This week for me is gonna be allot of fun as I've talked about men on here whether it'd be Comedians, or Directors or Actors they've predominantly been male, not that thats a bad thing, its just nice to talk about women who I love also for a change. If you want to buy this film go ahead by all means if not thats fine. I hope you all have a lovely week and I'll see you on Wednesday!

Kubrick Vs Hitchcock

We're gonna talk about two very famous and credited Directors, and this post was a long time coming. These two Directors are totally unique in there own way, but at the same time they're very much the same.

 

We'll start with there backgrounds shall we? Alfred Hitchcock was born in England, his childhood was quite an unhappy one as, he got bullied alot for his weight, and theres a story that when he was around 5 he misbehaved and his father sent him to prison with a note asking to lock him away for 5 minutes, and I guess thats why in alot of his films he has characters that are wrongly accused or have harsh punishments in.  He loved silent films, and dabbled in creative writing. Stanley Kubrick was born in New York, to a wealthy family he had an above average IQ, although he did miss school alot and loved stories and Grimm brothers, Greek and Roman Myths. 

 Both of them are born in completely different countries, at different times there films are very similar, at the same time not. Kubrick's films are very diverse, like you could easily find something for everyone. Whereas with Kubrick his films are abit more out of this world, and thats not a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or should I say controversial his films for me broke so many boundaries, I was 12 when I first watched The Shining, that was the first Stanley Kubrick film I watched, and at the time I love reading and still do but back then I got into Stephan King books, so I didn't think it was something that I couldn't watch because it was a 15 I liked it because I like the Stephan King Novels, and I thought it was a good film, never thought I wasn't technically allowed to watch it. I feel with Kubrick he can be controversial, I mean he did an adaptation of Clockwork Orange, that alone screams controversial. 

I'm not as familiar with Hitchcock's work, his work is amazing for what it was at the time and still even now, many filmmakers who create anything with suspense and horror to it that includes Kubrick. His films back then were seen as weird, and just terrifying, now they are but just with all the suspense of films now and ten years ago its all different now, but still amazing. The Birds is the one film I will never forget, it's so spell bounding and sinister I loved it, it just completely resonated with me. Again I never thought that I wasn't necessarily allowed to watch it, because of the age ratings, and I've always been like that. But I mean really who's gonna arrest or fine someone because they're watching a Kubrick or Hitchcock film.

 
 But I mean again I say this with every post, but I don't think theres much of a competition, just preference really. Either way both of these men create brilliant stories to show, and they're remembered, but I just prefer Stanley Kubrick, because not gonna lie when I found out that I wasn't allowed to technically watch it cus of the age rating, I just thought to myself 'I'll watch some more..' Despite the rebellious 12 year old me breaking the law, cus I watched a film. I love the vision it provided from the books I read a voice, and I got to watch characters from what I imagined they should be on screen, and sometimes its disappointing but sometimes its fun to watch. But thats why we watch films, its storytelling and emotions and feelings, and everything.

Review: To Catch A Thief

On Friday I did a review of 'His Girl Friday' but today we're gonna do another Cary Grant film, its also a Hitchcock film, the first Hitchcock film I've done on this blog. 

Its about a man called John Robie played by Cary Grant who used to be a jewel thief, because of a recent events of jewellery going missing, so everyone assumes Robie is back stealing jewels. He then wants to catch the real jewel thief in the act to prove its not him. And one of the best bits is that its set in Monaco, and let me tell you its so beautiful to watch. 

This film also stars Grace Kelly, who I'm not a big fan of, but I do love this film and Cary Grant. Grace plays a rich girl who falls in love with John Robie, however as one of her jewels goes missing, she accuses of buttering her up basically to get close to her so he can steal the jewels, but he isn't the thief, we all know that. She is the typical rich girl, but she's not spoilt in any way, she's much more of a woman, she's not stupid in anyway. I mean I still don't like her, but that doesn't mean she's a crap actress, she's just not my cup of tea. But her costumes in this film are so gorgeous. 

Another girl that's caught John Robie's eye who I actually prefer, because she's just so much more relatable to me than thats Danielle, she is French teenager I love her because she is just so fun and I see alot me in her. In a positive way of course, one of my favorite scenes in film ever is the scene where she meets John Robie in the ocean, I love it so much its wonderful. She is just oozing with charm, and grace as she is played by an actual french actress Brigette Auber. 

This film is brilliant as its described as a 'Thriller' which it is, and does this outstandingly. I found watching this it didn't feel heavy or scary, it felt much more like a light comedy with abit of action/thriller to shake things up abit. As I love films that have something else other than just an 'Action' or a 'Thriller' I like films, and sometimes TV with abit of extra to it, it makes things livelier. I mean thats just what I think, but I love this film, you don't feel like you're watching a Thriller I mean you are, but you don't feel like you are.

As this is an Alfred Hitchcock film, and yes I will be doing a post all about that man in one way or another. Its a legend, and any Hitchcock film is a staple but honestly if you wanna start watching Hitchcock films, if you haven't already then you should watch this film first as it's a great way to get into his style of film. 

Brando Vs Dean

So we're gonna carry on the theme of coolness, and 50s teen. With Marlon Brando and James Dean, two huge stars of the time, but very different but at the same time the same.

Lets start from the beginning shall we, well first of all James Dean was a huge fan of Marlon Brando as I think he was the only actor that he related to in a way, as they were both the tough guy teen, and had the same views on acting and the industry as a whole, as they both were interested in realistic acting. Also both were involved with allot of big films that we still talk about them today, like Streetcar Named Desire and Rebel Without a Cause.

 

As similarities in films and acting styles go they were both in a way, as James died young at the age of 23 in a car crash and Marlon stayed alive and died fat, old at the age of 80. So in a way, James was more of a hardcore 'teen' who loved motorbikes, and whom died still in the eyes of a teenager. Wheras with Marlon he died old and fat, and wasn't as frozen in time than James.  I mean at the beginning of there lives, its quite similar as James's mother passed away when he was a boy and was extremely close with his mother, and his father was the opposite of his mother, and Marlon had a similar thing but his mother was an alcoholic but was fun, and his father was again a polar opposite. 

Without Marlon Brando, we wouldn't have James Dean as he was heavily inspired by him as there wasn't anyone else quite like them back then, there was alot of slick, hair, and a booming clear golden voice, charming men, sharp suit. Suddenly there was this guy with tousled hair, mumbly, wearing leather jackets, and its iconic. Gotta admit both are amazing actors and totally gorgeous, has to be said. They changed acting and made a brand of what they did with films, and roles.

They really made the 'Teen' Brand also the bad boy brand where you just want to cuddle them and tell them its okay, just me okay... But also they brought a new genre of film and gave a voice to teens, which changed everything. Its lovely aswell that James Dean was a huge fan of Marlon Brando and who was already a big star at the time, and Brando was like 'oh hi' and Dean was like 'oh my god!!' then when Dean died Brando was like 'oh wow he was a really good guy' because after he died Rebel Without A Cause came out and instantly made him an icon of all teens. With Brando he carried on and wasn't cool anymore, and then became this old, fat man that once was a sexy man with a tight white t-shirt.

Again like with Keaton and Chaplin post both are incredible, but I'd say James Dean wins for me, looks, talent, story just him. He is outstanding and as both are I've just liked James Dean abit longer than Marlon Brando, but they are both huge talents, and if I didn't like Marlon Brando I wouldn't be doing a post on him would I. But they are both amazingly talented men, and have impacted lots of people for generations.