28 Toni

[John Edmond]

Should have said by film standards. Just a pre-emptive against people complaining I called Dietrich fat. Which has already happened a couple of times - sadly Dietrich is better known (by people I know at least) for her late caricature work, people think I'm crazy when I refer to her as curvy.

Love as a conspiracy against the world. I love reading about all their plotting, we must have a film studio in Austria.

[ellipsis7]

ELENA ET LES HOMMES Gaumont BR up at Amazon.fr - May 16th release....

[HerrSchreck]

Dave I always thought that you were a fan of Pabst, really liking -- and rhapsodizing here about--PANDORA, DIARY OF A LOST GIRL specifically. If you haven't already, you should really take a look at The Love of Jeanne Ney... best Pabst I've seen by a good long mile. Funny I was just babbling in my audio essay for ARNE about Stillers bringing his young protege to Hollywood ( after that brief german stop over with Pabst to make GASSE) where they were both subject to the hideous machinations of one of The Great Assholes of History, Louie Mayer.

Interestingly also, viz your avatar.. I had just a week ago pulled out the sublime PICCADILLY for the first time in at least four years and went woozy all over again for this deliriously fucking excellent film. The rough and tumble low dive dance hall scene where Wong takes the boss, remarking "This is our Piccadilly," what a knock out scene... Bravely mixing the races in a near brawl. Lovely stuff!

Dishonored incidentally is easily my least fave Deitberg film. Like the Blue Angel quite a bit, though there is an unusual sloppiness about it in spots. Far less careful and far more visceral, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just different. And I dont mind Marlene's baby fat, I think she has a hot body in that movie. I'm reminded however of William Shirers comment after coming back home to the US after his long Berlin assignment for CBS, saying that it was nice to finally see slender ankles on a woman once again. .

[HerrSchreck]

I'm pretty much with you on Pabst, bro.. I simply cannot see why certain very learned and otherwise respectable intellectuals place him up in the same lofty air as auteurs like Lang Murnau and Renoir.. completely different species of human being. Pabst was a talented recycler , at least during the Weimar era. My interest in him fades with the early sound work of LATALANTIDE , 3PENNY, WESTFRONT, etc. Once the nazis came into power and the sound era really gets rolling the man really seems to run out of ideas. My guess is it's because he was no longer surrounded by the likes of Lang Leni murnau etc to inspire and motivate him. I have difficulty sticking with GASSE, as I always seem to get kicked out of the proceedings a little bit of the day way in. I know I've already earlier mentioned that I fell asleep during the premier screening of the restoration that you were talking about at the moma. I think Eisner really nailed the issues in this film by elucidating the fact that the shabbiness is too shabby the villains are too villanous ( exemplified by Werner Krauss' lecherous butcher), th us rendering something usually such fertile territory for the expressionists, their mid twenties inflation and depression, as totally inauthentic in this film. A worthwhile comparison usually made is between this film and griffiths Isn't Life Wonderful, which was shot at the same time and in germany along with pabsts film.

DuPont is totally fabbo! I don't need to tell you where you can find excellent titles such as the sublime VARIETE, plus excellent works like DAS ALTE GESETZ, DIE GEIERWALLY, MOULON ROUGE, etc. I should say that most of his sound era work remains a mystery. Although the less said about his very late drive in schlocko NEANDERTHAL MAN, the better.

[neal]

Should have said by film standards. Just a pre-emptive against people complaining I called Dietrich fat.

Even if that were the case, you wouldn't be alone.. I used to have a pdf of this letter from Dietrich to William K. Everson essentially responding to being called fat. I'll have to see if it made it onto one of my backup drives before my last computer crapped out on me.

[peerpee]

[neal]

Sadly, in that photo they block out all the interesting parts.