Five Graves to Cairo (1943) Dir. Billy Wilder, Cin. John F. Seitz “You get a little crazy if you think about something all the time, for a long, long time.”

Chicago Deadline (Lewis Allen, 1949).

'Double Indemnity' – Barbara Stanwyck, femme fatale on Criterion Channel

‘Double Indemnity’ – Barbara Stanwyck, femme fatale on Criterion Channel

A masterpiece of film noir double dealing, Double Indemnity (1944) codified the moral depravity and sexual charge of the nascent genre at its most cynical. Barbara Stanwyck is perfectly heartless as Phyllis Dietrichson, the icy adulteress who plants the seeds of murder in the mind of conniving insurance agent Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray). He plots the cold-blooded murder of her rich husband,…

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Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Director: Billy Wilder 

Cinematographer: John F. Seitz 

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)

Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber. Screenplay: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, based on a novel by James M. Cain. Cinematography: John F. Seitz. Production design: David S. Hall. Music: Miklós Rózsa.

Oscar-bashing is an easy game to play, but sometimes it's a necessary one. Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Academy Awards: best picture, best director (Billy Wilder), best actress (Barbara Stanwyck), best screenplay (Wilder and Raymond Chandler), best black-and-white cinematography (John F. Seitz), best scoring (Miklós Rózsa), and best sound recording. It won none of them. The most egregious losses were to the sugary Going My Way, which was named best picture; Leo McCarey won for direction, and Frank Butler and Frank Cavett won for a screenplay that seems impossibly pious and sentimental today. Almost no one watches Going My Way today, whereas Double Indemnity is on a lot of people's lists of favorite films. The reason often cited for Double Indemnity's losses is that it was produced by Paramount, which also produced Going My Way, and that the studio instructed its employees to vote for the latter film. But the Academy always felt uncomfortable with film noir, of which Double Indemnity, a film deeply cynical about human nature, is a prime example. Wilder and Chandler completely reworked James M. Cain's story in their screenplay, and while they were hardly cheerful co-workers (Wilder claimed that he based the alcoholic writer in his 1945 film The Lost Weekend on Chandler), the result was a fine blend of Wilder's bitter wit and Chandler's insight into the twisted nature of the protagonists, Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) and Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray). And as long as we're on the subject of Oscars, there are the glaring absences of MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson from the nominations -- and not only for this year: Neither actor was ever nominated by the Academy. MacMurray's departure from his usual good-guy roles to play the sleazy, murderous Neff should have been the kind of career about-face the Academy often applauds. And Robinson's dogged, dyspeptic insurance investigator, Barton Keyes, is one of the great character performances in a career notable for them. (The supporting actor Oscar that he should have won went to Barry Fitzgerald's twinkly priest in Going My Way, a part for which Fitzgerald had been, owing to a glitch in the Academy's rules, nominated in both leading and supporting actor categories.)

"This is the last act. The farce is over. The lying is finished, and the coward is at least cured of his fear."

Hail the Conquering Hero, 1944.

Dir. & Writ. Preston Sturges | DOP John F. Seitz

ALMANACCO DEL FESTIVAL DI MONTECARLO – 4° EDIZIONE 1977

ALMANACCO DEL FESTIVAL DI MONTECARLO – 4° EDIZIONE 1977

8-12 dicembre 1977 GIURIA - Principe Ranieri III di Monaco, Presidente - John Ringling North - Raf Vallone - Cary Grant - Horst Buchholz - Jacqueline Cartier PALMARES DEL FESTIVAL CLOWN D’ORO FAMIGLIA KNIE - LA GRANDE CAVALLERIA CLOWN D’ARGENTO LES ANTARES - ACROBATI SULL'AEREO I CANESTRELLI - TRAMPOLINO ELASTICO I CARILLO BROTHERS - FILO ALTO I KRISTOF - MANO A MANO ALLA BASCULA I SILAGIS - BASCULE Nonostante l’amarezza per il mancato triplo salto mortale di Ketty Jarz (prima donna ad aver eseguito questa prodezza), sarà ricordato come un Festival importante, con una nutrita partecipazione italiana e la meritata vittoria del Clown d’Oro dalla famiglia Knie presente con tanti grandi numeri (cavalli, tigri, elefanti, tigri sugli elefanti). Nutrita la partecipazione italiana che vede sul podio i Canestrelli in una rara reentrée dagli Usa da dove ormai risiedono da 20 anni. Apprezzamenti anche per i Forgione-Macaggi. In giuria le star del cinema Cary Grant e Raf Vallone impreziosiscono l’evento con un tocco di mondanità. La Giuria premia con un riconoscimento alla carriera l’iconico clown americano Lou Jacobs, il cui volto è l’emblema del circo sui manifesti di tutto il mondo. La famiglia di Ferdinando Togni è saldamente in capo alla parte tecnica, logistica e direzione di pista e presente con i nuovi chapiteau bianchi. Tra i grandi nomi sul podio, Istvan Kristof e sua moglie con i numeri di pertiche e bascula a due. Si tiene la seconda riunione dell’Associazione dei Direttori di circo di tutto il mondo. Siamo negli anni d’Oro del Festival! ELENCO PARTECIPANTI 1977 Sergio Mr Loyal Forgione-Macaggi Charivari - clowns Barry Lubin  Clown Tinsman Jim Clown Luis Munoz  Filo teso Donnert Lilla, Elefante barbiere Segregas (La troupe) Equilibrio sui rulli Herman's (La troupe) Pertiche Freddy Quinn  Cantante sul Filo alto Seitz Jo Filo alto Fredy Knie Sr  Cavalleria - Alta scuola Louis Knie  Tigri ed Elefanti Buby e Jule Clowns Miss Dawne  Pappagalli Bremlov Giocoliere Germaine, Louis e Franco Knie Elefanti Reumatics (La troupe) Acrobati Macaggi Saltatori Rhodin Jack Scimpanzé Antares (La troupe) Acrobati sull'aereo Rodriguez Tino Trapezio - Corda aerea Lou Jacobs Clown Canestrelli (La troupe) Trampolino elastico Carrillo Brothers Filo alto Otto (La troupe) Charivari - Bascule Li Suang Corda elastica cinese Clive Otarie Gérard Edon  Trapezio washington Banda Vidane  Elefanti del Circo Americano (Togni) Istvan (La troupe) Pertiche Ketty ed Emilio Jarz Trapezio volante Lee Pee Ville Grandi illusioni Silagis Saltatori Waldemar Volteggio a cavallo Duo Carrington  Barboncini Arild Arnardo Acrobata comico alla corda Duo Kristof Mano a mano alla bascula Barry Lubin e Tinsman Jim Clowns Marcel Peters Belve feroci Dolly Jacobs  Anelli Segreras (La troupe) Trapezio volante

FAMIGLIA KNIE

LES ANTARES

I CANESTRELLI

CARRILLO BROTHERS

IL DUO KRISTOF CLOWN D'ARGENTO

SILAGIS

CLOWN LOU JACOBS FREDDY KNIE SR.

MARCEL PETERS

LOUIS KNIE TIGRI & ELEFANTI

I SILAGIS

FRANCO & LOUIS KNIE

FAMIGLIA KNIE

KETTY JARZ GIRA UN DOPPIO E MEZZO

ARILD ARNARDO

LA FAMIGLIA TOGNI

Gerard Edon

Le tigri di Louis Knie

Luis Munoz Credit della IV edizione del Festival: - Alain Frere, consigliere tecnico addetto alle relazioni con gli artisti - Irvin e Kenneth Feld, consiglieri artistici - Enis Togni, direttore delle installazioni tecniche e della regia di pista - Edoardo Murillo, assistente - Billy F. Arata, consulenza artistica - Franco Medini, consulenza artistica

Credit photo Serge Fleury e Archivio Circusfans Credit video archivio Maurizio Colombo ALMANACCO DEL FESTIVAL DI MONTECARLO – 4° edizione (1977) Se questo articolo ti è piaciuto condividilo sui tuoi social utilizzando i bottoni che trovi qui sotto   Read the full article

Sunset Blvd.

Directed by Billy Wilder

Photographed by John F. Seitz

Five Graves to Cairo

After the madcap comedy of THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942), Billy Wilder and his co-writer, Charles Brackett, took a sharp turn into wartime suspense with FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (1943). Franchot Tone is a British tank soldier trapped behind enemy lines in Egypt who takes on the identity of a dead waiter only to discover the man was a German spy. His boss, who arrives at the hotel where he’s hiding, is none other than Field Marshall Rommel, played to the hilt by Erich von Stroheim. Tone is quite good in his role, as are Akim Tamiroff as the Egyptian hotel-keeper and Peter Van Eyck as Rommell’s adjutant. But all their hard work takes a back seat to von Stroheim’s magnetic, nuanced performance. Wilder gives him a star entrance. He’s shot from behind as he dictates a telegram to the German high command, his thick neck dominating the screen, and only turns to show his face as he says his name. The film is atmospherically shot by John F. Seitz — who would go on work with Wilder on DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) and SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) — and scored by Miklos Rosza. There are some narrative burps. It’s amazingly convenient that the Germans never speak to Tone in German, even though he’s supposed to be one of them. But the suspense is palpable. Anne Baxter is beautiful as the French maid, Mouche, and has some lovely moments, but she’s awfully clean for a maid working in the middle of the desert. No sand sticks to that face. Her French accent is pretty inconsistent, and she keeps talking about the German “twoops,” as if she were doing a bad Marlene Dietrich imitation.

Double Indemnity (1944)

“Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?”

Director: Billy Wilder

Cinematographer: John F. Seitz

the unseen (us, allen 45)

Cavalcade (Frank Lloyd, 1933).

Sunset Blvd. (1950) Dir. Billy Wilder, Cin. John F. Seitz

“You’re norma desmond. Used to be in silent pictures. Used to be big.’ ‘I am big, it’s the pictures that got small.”

          The stars are ageless, aren't they?

Sunset Boulevard (1950) dir. Billy Wilder, D.O.P. John F. Seitz

Joel McCrea in Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941)

Cast: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, Byron Foulger, Margaret Hayes, Robert Greig, Eric Blore. Screenplay: Preston Sturges. Cinematography: John F. Seitz. Art direction: Hans Dreier, A. Earl Hedrick. Film editing: Stuart Gilmore. Music: Charles Bradshaw, Leo Shuken.

Let us now praise Joel McCrea, who never became an icon like Cooper or Gable or Grant or Stewart, but could always be relied on for a fine performance when the others weren't available. He starred in two of Sturges's best, the other one being The Palm Beach Story (1942), and gave solid and sometimes memorable performances for William Wyler (Dead End, 1937), Cecil B. DeMille (Union Pacific, 1939), Alfred Hitchcock (Foreign Correspondent, 1940), and George Stevens (The More the Merrier, 1943) before becoming a durable fixture in Westerns. His performance in the title role of Sullivan's Travels is just what the movie needed: an actor who could do slapstick comedy but turn serious when necessary, a task that among major stars of the era perhaps only Cary Grant and Henry Fonda -- the Fonda of Sturges's own The Lady Eve (1941) -- were also really good at. The genius of Sullivan's Travels is that its serious parts jibe so well with its goofy ones. As Sturges has characters warn Sullivan at the beginning of his scheme to pose as a hobo to get material for his turn as a "serious" director: Poor people don't like to be condescended to. The pivotal scene of the film is the one in which the convicts go to a Black church to watch a movie. It could have been an embarrassing display of the era's racial stereotypes, but Sturges handles it with tact and sensitivity, so that it becomes emotionally effective and brings home the dual points about charity and the need for humor without excessive sentimentality and preachiness. Sturges's usual gang of brilliant character players -- including William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, Eric Blore, and Jimmy Conlin -- are on hand. Sturges and McCrea are said to have found working with Veronica Lake a pain, but fortunately it doesn't show.

Double Indemnity (1944)

Dir. Billy Wilder