Change Your Image
kayeohio1947
Reviews
Ray Rayner and His Friends (1964)
Ray Rayner and variety show
I remember Ray Rayner sometimes hosted a talk show on WGN that featured a female vocalist and co-hostess named Mina Cole. She supposedly was a dark brunette Caucasian woman, but she resembled vocalist Lena Horne very much. I remember this lady being on the show, but I cannot find anything about her on the internet. I would like to hear from other baby-boomers who remember her.
Born to Be Bad (1950)
Agreement with "A Budding Vamp"
Perhaps I missed something, but I did not see Joan Fontaine's character "Christabel Caine" as such a "bad" girl. First of all, the character's name is taken from the poem "Christabel" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which explores good vs. evil, and from Cain, the evil, older son of Adam and Eve who killed his innocent brother Abel. The name "Christabel" itself is coined from "Christ" and "Abel" to show Christabel as an innocent person and the eternal, sacrificing victim. Because of the title, I expected to see a really over-the-top evil woman, but this proved not to be the case.
As a result, I agree with the writer of "A Budding Vamp" because I too saw Christabel as the insolated country girl who did not have the advantages of her well-to-do city-dwelling relatives, Uncle John and Cousin Donna, and Donna's fabulously wealthy fiance' Curtis. Rather than seeing Donna and Curtis as the heroine and hero of the story, I saw them as rather boring stuffed shirts whose only identity was their money. Donna had a rather cold and clipped way in speaking to people, and she seemed rather distant and business-like with her fiancé. In fact, with her coldness toward people, I figured it was only a matter of time before Curtis would find himself attracted to someone else, but he and Donna actually deserved each other On the other hand, Gobby the artist and Nick the writer (portrayed by Mel Ferrer and Robert Ryan, respectively) were down-to-earth people with winning personalities, wit, talent, and a lust for life, and Christabel had much more in common with them.
Instead of seeing Christabel as someone who took advantage of others, I saw her as someone taken aback by her own interest in the three attractive young men she had just met and the attention they paid to her. I believe her main fault was in rushing into the marriage with Curtis before she really analyzed the way she felt about each of the men. Donna's abrupt departure for London, after all, only paved the way for the wedding of Christabel and Curtis.
I would like to mention my belief that the social snobbery and prejudice of the late 1940-50s era led to the title of the film as the era still clung to the idea that certain people belonged in a certain social class and situation in life while less fortunate people were not expected or even allowed to improve themselves. . Hence, the rich (Donna) were "good and superior" while the poor (Christabel) were "bad and inferior." Yes, it is/was easy for a rich girl like Donna to get away with being smug, self-righteous, and judgmental, and not so easy for a poor girl like Christabel, no matter how charming and beautiful, to get ahead.
I do agree with other reviewers that this is a truly well-done film and one that should appreciated much more and viewed more often.
Ramona (1936)
"Ramona" needs clarification
I have read the novel "Ramona" a few times, and it seems something was lost when the book was translated into film. First of all, the story takes place in the Spanish colonial days of California, and this is why the Native Americans are speaking with Spanish accents. The "gringo" white people (Americans) are seen as the villains because they mostly are Protestant and are moving into a predominantly Catholic area and are claiming land that had been granted to Spanish settlers by the King of Spain. There was this same ill feeling about gringos or "white settlers" when Texas was in the process of separating from Mexico and becoming part of the United States.
As for Ramona's being a half-breed, the novel explains she is the child of the Spanish rancher and his Native American girl friend. The rancher brings her, as an infant, to the hacienda, and the rancher's wife agrees to bring up her husband's illegitimate daughter as if the child were her own or at least her social equal.
I am not sure of Loretta Young's heritage, but I believe she was a devout Catholic and perhaps was of Latin descent. It so happens her sister Georgiana was married to Ricardo Montalban, so Miss Young was associated with Latin Americans in her private life. Mr. Ameche was an Italian-American and no doubt Catholic, so he fit into this story of Spanish-colonial California very well.
I hope this explanation has helped some reviewers better understand the background of "Ramona." One of my favorite scenes is the priest coming to bless the flock of sheep and crops each spring. It is reminiscent of the same blessing in "The Thorn Birds" and the annual "Blessing of the Fleet" in the Gulf Coast area of the United States.
Black Swan (2010)
Black Swan is a dirty bird!
Never have I been so disappointed in a movie. Being a fan of ballet, I had anticipated a classic film done in good taste with beautiful actors, sets, and music. I was shocked and disappointed to find this film laced with totally unnecessary scenes of gratuitous sex, perversion, sex offenders, sexual harassment, and filthy and offensive language. The dirty old man on the subway, bus, or whatever was the last straw that prompted me to change the channel. It really is a shame the topic of a ballerina dancing the parts of Odette and Odile was not approached in a wholesome way by a different director and screenwriter.
The movie has a good cast that, unfortunately, was wasted on this perverted nightmare trying to disguise itself as a film. All I can say is, "Thank God I did not waste money on a movie theatre ticket or on a DVD of this horrible trash." I would advise everyone to pass on this one.