Don Siegel's excellent montage work from Warner Brothers 1941 movie "Blues in the Night"
Clip starts off with Richard Whorf's character, Jigger, being unable to play his song on the piano. Then the montage starts, showing how Jigger has a nervous breakdown and then finally, after professional help and the help of his friends, he regains his confidence and musical ability. Montage starts at about 1:30 in, but I included the first part for some context:
Now, wouldn't you say this kind of montage is a lost art in today's commercial films? I can't think of any movie in the last couple of decades that has attempted anything like this (doesn't mean the films don't exist, I just can't think of any examples). I'm struck by the idea that "montage" nowadays is more closely associated with cheesy 80s movies and that (hilarious) song from the "Team America" movie than with anything on same level as the surreal, dream-like stuff from "Blues in the Night."
Is it time to bring back the crazy, expressionistic montage?
Showing posts with label don siegel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label don siegel. Show all posts
January 18, 2010
Warner Brothers Forever
I can't be sure if it's the fact that TCM has filled its schedule for fifteen years with Warner Brothers movies -- and so I've simply been inundated with them to the point of brainwash -- but I think Warner Brothers is my favorite of the old time studios.
This opinion was confirmed when I recently read "The Hollywood Studios" by Ethan Mordden. I'm less familiar with Paramount, Universal, and to a lesser extent Columbia (mostly because TCM doesn't always play a lot of movies from these three studios because of rights issues and such and also because the studios themselves release very little onto DVD), so reading about these studios and their movies from the Golden Age has made me eager to find some of these films and explore some new cinematic territory.
But the chapter on Warner Brothers was enough to remind me that even if/when I do see more Paramount or Universal films, they probably won't be enough to dislodge my love for the WB studio.
This opinion was confirmed when I recently read "The Hollywood Studios" by Ethan Mordden. I'm less familiar with Paramount, Universal, and to a lesser extent Columbia (mostly because TCM doesn't always play a lot of movies from these three studios because of rights issues and such and also because the studios themselves release very little onto DVD), so reading about these studios and their movies from the Golden Age has made me eager to find some of these films and explore some new cinematic territory.
But the chapter on Warner Brothers was enough to remind me that even if/when I do see more Paramount or Universal films, they probably won't be enough to dislodge my love for the WB studio.
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