Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on November 25, 2002 at 19:43:08

In Reply to: What about Cukor? And Losey? (nt) posted by orejones on November 23, 2002 at 04:56:26:

I know Joseph Losey was born in Wisconsin - but I was thinking of saving him for my British list - Duh!

I regret to say I've only seen his UK films: The Servant and The Go-Between are quite distinctive, and I remember Accident and King & Country as being fine as well. (But I haven't seen the latter two for a long time.)

I almost put Cukor in my honorable mentions. He made one of my all time favorite films, Philidelphia Story, as well as The Women, not to mention Born Yesterday and The Marrying Kind. His marvelous comedies with Tracy & Hepburn - Pat & Mike, Adams Rib - although they have dated in some respects, are still high water marks. Others, like the melodramas Gaslight, Holiday and Dark Victory, have aged less well.

I guess, in the end, I left Cukor off because he seemed overall...umm...less able to rise above upon his material, seemed to a bit more dependent on his screenwriters for that special spark (and he had some great writers and material during his career). I think, on the whole, he less surely shaped his material, and perhaps lacked the singular, personal vision of a Ford or a Houston or a Hawks. However, where a light, deft touch was needed, Cukor was your man. Call it a distinction between the sometimes great and the truly great.

Oh nevermind, for Philiedelphia Story, The Women, Born Yesterday and The Marrying Kind, Cukor goes into my hononrable mens. ;-0