This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week the theme is period dramas, one that's not too difficult and one which I feel like we've done before. But at any rate, I decided to figure whether I could come up with a theme-within-a-theme, and eventually I did:
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955). Joan Collins plays Evelyn Nesbit, a beautiful young woman caught in a love triangle between prominent architect Stanford White (Ray Milland) and newcomer millionaire Harry Thaw (Farley Granger) in early 1900s New York. Harry's jealousy eventually results in his shooting Stanford. Based on a true story.
The Virgin Queen (1955). Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) has to be one tough woman to rule England of the late 16th century what with all the political events going on around her. This time, she's in a doomed relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd). Sir Walter meets one of the ladies-in-waiting, Beth Throgmorton (Joan Collins), and the two fall in love, but there's no way Her Majesty is going to let them end up together.
Esther and the King (1960). Based on the Biblical narrative of Purim, Joan Collins plays Esther, in Persia with her uncle Mordecai in the court of King Ahasuerus (aka Xerxes, played by Richard Egan). There's palace intrigue and dislike in the general public for the Jews, especially when Esther is chosen to be the King's new wife.
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4 comments:
Love your theme within the theme and I love Joan Collins too!
I liked Girl in the Red Velvet Swing but the Evelyn Nesbit story was better told in Ragtime.
The Virgin Queen is all Bette's but Joan looks great and performs well. From what I've read Bette was less than gracious to Joan behind the scenes.
It's been a long time since I've seen Esther and the King. I remember more about her wacky Land of the Pharaohs.
I did a theme within the theme with all three taking place somewhere in the Roman Empire.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)-Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus this hilariously tells the bawdy story of slave Pseudolus (a great Zero Mostel) "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome" as he attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. Based on the stage play of the same name this has terrific songs and an excellent cast (including Buster Keaton in his last role) but it’s Mostel repeating his Tony winning performance who makes it so special.
Julius Caesar (1953)-Adaptation of the Shakespearean play based on actual events. Brutus (James Mason) convinced by a group of Roman senators led by Caius Cassius (John Gielgud), that friend Julius Caesar (Louis Calhern) intends to dissolve the republic to install himself as monarch joins a conspiracy to assassinate him. Once done he defends his actions but Mark Antony (Marlon Brando) responds with a speech that plays upon the crowd's love for their fallen leader and a battle for power begins. High quality film with an impressive cast including Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr and Edmond O’Brien aside from those mentioned with Brando, forsaking his method mumbling for straight verse strong as Mark Antony.
The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)-Pegs a fictitious story onto the big blow. Blacksmith Marcus (Preston Foster) consumed with bitterness upon the death of his wife and child becomes a gladiator and Pontius Pilate's (Basil Rathbone) partner before finding Christ in the days leading up to the Vesuvius eruption. Some impressive, for its day special effects when the mountain finally ruptures.
Bette Davis playing a queen? I need to see that.
Davis also played Elizabeth I in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, with Errol Flynn playing Essex. It was a famously difficult shoot, as Davis didn't think Flynn was up to playing Essex, but later in life she admitted she had been wrong and Flynn did a fine job.
Joan Collins...you mean you didn't pick her film, The Bitch?" Hahahaa. I have not seen any of these but i do know the story about Evelyn Nesbitt. It is a great story for a film. Poor Bette plays this Queen twice and I can just imagine having to play along side her as she was a most difficult woman. I have not seen this last film you chose either. Biblical was all the rage back in that day.
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