Howard Hawks

[modage]

i just also watched the thing from another world, which was a very interesting counterpart to carpenter's The Thing which i love.  this one, was also very good.  the scene where the thing gets lit on fire is pretty amazing.  good acting, snappy dialogue, and a cool story.  i might have to get this one.

[kotte]

I've only seen one Hawks film yet. His Girl Friday. I know I'm in no place yet to say he's amazing but I'll do it anyway. He's amazing. I have two other Hawks films in order and I can't wait.

I'll say the obvious thing: It's how he directs dialogue.

Except Rio Bravo, The Big Sleep and His Girl Friday what films of his do you recommend?

[cine]

[cron]

how is his Scarface?

[Alethia]

i like it better than depalmas

[cine]

Second that.

[cron]

really?

[Alethia]

really.

[godardian]

Isn't Red River supposed to be a really big deal? How does everyone here rate that one?

Is the only way to get Scarface (Hawks's) on DVD to buy the De Palma deluxe set that includes it? I've been holding off on buying De Palma's 'cos if it is, then I'll spring for the big box.

[MacGuffin]

Is the only way to get Scarface (Hawks's) on DVD to buy the De Palma deluxe set that includes it?

As far as I know, yes.

[modage]

thats so funny that this topic was resurrected yesterday, because yesterday as part of a little directors month in 2004 i'm doing, (every month highlight a different director i like, and during one week of that month, see 5 movies of his/hers that i havent seen yet).  so january is Howard Hawks month and yesterday i just watched To Have And Have Not which was good, Monkey Business which was wacky as hell, and Red River which i liked best of the three.  i really liked Red River and the thing that interested me most in the movie is how John Waynes character went from being the 'hero' and the one whom you identified with in the beginning of the film and slowly turns into sort of a villian.  by the time they leave him behind and he threattens to come back and kill them all i couldnt believe it!  and for the next 30 minutes or so of film, all the tension thats building just waiting for him to show up!  i just thought that was so great and completely facinating how the lead character ends up disappearing and just becoming mythically frightening.  it was a really neat dynamic that i'm not sure i've ever seen before.  the resolution was less satisfying, but it was still really good.

[modage]

just watched Scarface and Only Angels Have Wings tonite finishing up my Howard Hawks week for January.  scarface was interesting but didnt really do anything for me.  funny accents galore, but an interesting comparison for the depalma version, (which i'm not crazy about either).  Only Angels Have Wings was a pretty neat Cary Grant romance/adventure type movie but nothing i'm totally in love with.  i liked how his character never changed and it didnt go for a sappy resolution or anything.  rita hayworth is much hotter than jean arthur though, so he should've went with her. so now, i think i'm about like this (as if anyone cares)...
1. bringing up baby
2. rio bravo
3. red river
4. to have and have not
5. the thing from another world
6. hatari
7. gentlemen prefer blondes
8. his girl friday
9. only angels have wings
10. monkey business
11. the big sleep
12. scarface
i think i'm done with him for a while, but anyone have any suggestions of where to go next for Howard Hawks when i decide to see some more?

[samsong]

I just saw Only Angels Have Wings after reading somewhere that it's one of Wim Wenders' favorite films.  Just so happened to be my first Howard Hawks film, too, and if modernage is right (which he rarely is...  :P ) and this is only a preview of what Hawks is like, then I'm going to fucking die watching his other stuff.  Only Angels Have Wings is further proof that 1939 truly is one of the greatest years in the history of (America) cinema.  I absolutely loved it minus the "tragic" turn it takes at the 3/4's mark... luckily it picks up afterwards and ends on a perfectly happy note, one that gives happy endings its good name back.  Cary Grant and Jean Arthur both give excellent performances and have great chemistry, as does the entire cast; this is one of the most finely acted films I've ever seen.  The film flows like water with moments of pure genius... scenes are intricately constructed and just so beautifully executed.... bah, makes me want to cry.  As for Rita Hayworth being hotter than Jean Arthur.  Hayworth may look better but there's a feisty vulnerability that Jean Arthur exudes that I find irresistable... same goes with Barbara Stanwyck.  Yum.  I love both of them.  Rita's nice to look, though.  I think Gilda will change my mind.

Needless to say I'm definitely going on a Howard Hawks binge soon, though there's no way for me to see Scarface... no easy way, that is.

[w/o horse]

I have this strong urge pushing me towards watching Air Force and Land of the Pharaohs soon.  It's an interest spurred on by the fascination of witnessing lesser material from a Hollywood heavyweight, Faulkner involvement, and certainly camp potential (heightended by Land of the Pharaohs' recent inclusion in Cult Camp Classics Volume 4: Historical Epics).  They could be wacky, like Hawks' wacky comedy Bringing up Baby that's really wacky.

So I'm going to do it soon and then I'll tell Xixax about it and if someone wants to do this with me they should.

[w/o horse]

Land of the Pharaohs is this massive spectacle that knows too well what it is and what it wants to do.  I fell asleep in the middle, and to be honest I'll probably trade it in before I rewatch it.  Though the end seemed dramatic.