A fascinating themed history of the film star (human AND animal), from Max Linder, Chaplin, Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford to Scarlett Johanssen and Harrison Ford.
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Very timely - I was reading something yesterday that, in the wake of Brad Pitt’s latest underwhelming effort at the box office, posited the idea that we have entered an era where the film star is done for. Rather depressingly it seems that characters eg another depressing superhero from the MCU, are more popular with audiences than the actual actors
Edit - film stars can only stay famous if they do TV work
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Why do we need “film stars” anyway? They’re just actors.
steve
@PaperPlane - so you have never watched the likes of Sophia Loren, David Niven, Carole Lombard, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Brando, William Powell, Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, George Sanders, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Arnie, Fred and Ginger, Kate and Audrey Hepburn, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn (et al) and never been entranced by their on-screen presence? All of these people in their various ways actors, but they were something more… stars.
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Yes I have and no they didn’t.
I don’t watch films for the actors but for the story. I couldn’t care less who’s in it.
steve
I’m sure that any reasonable actor could have played the role of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now and, yes, the story would remain unchanged. But are you really saying that Marlon Brando did not bring something else beyond mere acting to the role? There’s no right or wrong on this and your view is your view but me - I love the megawattage that a true star brings to a film. David Niven in A Matter of Life and Death, Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot, I could go on all night
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You may be right but I’ve not seen the film so I can’t comment.
As you (rightly) say, our views differ.
steve
Ok - how about Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Guys and Dolls, On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire or Superman? I imagine you have seen one of those.
I’m really not trying to pick a fight but hoping you might see that there really is something called ‘star power’ that transcends just the story telling
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Guys And Dolls on the TV probably 50 years ago. Given the time lapse, hardly anything from the film remains in my memory. I saw Superman at the pictures when it came out but again that was years ago.
I think we’re on different tracks. I’m not talking about the quality of an individual’s acting, they would have to be good to have a career and win awards. I just don’t see “stars”.
steve
The best of Roger Ebert… The best of film critics.
I don’t always agree with him but always appreciated the humanity that filled his reviews.
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Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. About 1/4 of the way through. It’s compelling, but as I have previously read Franzen’s three prior tomes, I begin to feel a point of diminishing returns.
And yes, Clapton and Robert Johnson have already been name-checked.
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A celebration of a graphic design genius, published to mark what would have been his 80th birthday by Paul Gorman a journalist, author and commentator on visual culture.
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Yes, Lady Gaga gave an extraordinary performance in The House of Gucci which lifted the film. The story is real and we know how it will end, so even Ridley Scott directing couldn’t sustain the narrative drive of the ending. Gaga has star quality regardless and one does not have to be a fan of her singing to recognise this.
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A novella of tremendous clarity and beauty. Small Things Like These is very good too. Claire is from Wexford and has won lots of literary awards.
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I am only 80 pages or so into it, but I am a little puzzled… the guy, whom I respect, seems convinced that The Hollies were the greatest band of the sixties; he frequently mentions Beatles and Stones as if to establish a common ground where all them were sort of equal; I mean, he wrote two pretty songs, one much in a McCartney style, and did harmonies for a couple of good bands. But he didn’t write Strawberry Fields Forever, nor Penny Lane, or My Generation or Satisfaction…
He must suffer from some form of Tourette’s; he ejaculates everything that passes in his mind, with a frequent use of vernacular and dirty words; sincerely, having slept with Joni Mitchell doesn’t qualify for glory. But I’ll finish it.
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I have just ordered a five-book set of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novels.
‘The Great Gatsby’ is probably my favourite novel ever written, beautiful prose with not a word out of place, and I reread it every year or so. Hollywood has tried to film the book a number of times (and the Robert Redford version was good) but it really lives off the page.
It’s a novella really (about 150 pages long) and I urge anyone interested in books who hasn’t read it to do so.
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Just finished this - White by former literary brat back member Bret Easton Ellis. A mixture of (sort of ) autobiography, film criticism and his take on the culture wars. Some it is very entertaining, particularly the film criticism. Some of his views on culture wars also very good but his stance on Trump is not. However, one of the main points of his book is that if we only read books, watch films etc that we know we are going to agree with then we are done for. I particularly enjoyed his take down on that awful word ‘ relatable’.
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Hello Graham,
speaking of films that got somehow lost in the films they were adapted for, I’d mention this:
I never understood how such a beautiful novel could be spoiled to such a degree. If it were not for a successful song, the film would be good for the dumpster in my opinion. The acid flavor of the book, the bitter, disenchanted ending, the painful charm of the main character, all is lost on celluloid… And adding the character of the fake Japanese portrayed by Mickey Rooney was the final touch. And yet, everyone know the film and almost nobody has read the book. What a pity.
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