Categories
Archives
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- Happy Birthday, Leadbelly
- “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.” — Dolly Parton
- “I don’t think my books should be in prison libraries.” — Patricia Highsmith, 1966
- “I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.” — Archie Leach
- “I never told a joke in my life.” — Andy Kaufman
- “In France, I’m an auteur; in Germany, a filmmaker; in Britain; a genre film director; and, in the USA, a bum.” — John Carpenter
- Shadow and pools of light
- “Precision and accuracy are necessary for both white and black writers. ‘A black aesthetic’ should not be an excuse for sloppy writing.” — poet and publisher Dudley Randall
- “When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
- Mirrors #24
Recent Comments
- Maddy on Happy Birthday, Leadbelly
- Melissa Sutherland on “I never told a joke in my life.” — Andy Kaufman
- Maddy on “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.” — Dolly Parton
- Molly Larson Cook on R.I.P. Sam Schacht
- Melissa Sutherland on “I never told a joke in my life.” — Andy Kaufman
- Leena Myller on “It wasn’t there, and then it was there.” David Lynch on Elvis
- Leena Myller on “It wasn’t there, and then it was there.” David Lynch on Elvis
- sheila on “When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
- Maddy on “When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
- sheila on “When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
- Maddy on “When I was discovered, everything happened like dominos. I don’t know how to talk about it now because it’s too mindblowing. It’s so unreal, and yet it’s real.” — Faye Dunaway
- sheila on “I can pick a good song, but I sure couldn’t pick a good man.” — Ruth Brown
- Clary on “I can pick a good song, but I sure couldn’t pick a good man.” — Ruth Brown
- sheila on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- Maddy on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- sheila on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- sheila on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- Scott Abraham on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- sheila on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
- Scott Abraham on Colm Tóibín, Gary Indiana, and Los Angeles
-
Tag Archives: White Heat
“A good director must be able to inspire whoever he was coaching so that the actor would live the scene. Make-believe must become reality.” — Raoul Walsh
It’s his birthday today. Raoul Wash directed a number of great films (in a career as vast as his, the names stick out), but one also thinks of the great PERFORMANCES in these great films, often from actors who were … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Ida Lupino, James Cagney, Raoul Walsh, Roaring Twenties, White Heat
4 Comments
My 2 All-Time Favorite Cagney Moments:
— his death scene in The Roaring Twenties – he makes it into a tragic ballet – all in one long take. The way that guy moved! — the scene where he freaks out in prison about his mother dying … Continue reading
Snapshots with Michael
— Lights out our first night. He lay on the blow-up mattress on the floor right below my bed. I lay in bed. Lights out. I lay there in silence, my eyes wide open, and I was just overly conscious … Continue reading
Speaking of William Holden’s Death Scene
(were we? Yes. We were.) … Here’s a post of 5 death scenes (on my new addiction – Matt Zoller Seitz’s blog) I found myself nodding in agreement at the inclusion of Sean Connery’s death in The Untouchables. I haven’t … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
I have to agree with Bogdonavich below – that the prison mess hall scene in White Heat when Cagney freaks out – is one of those moments in movie history that you never forget – a high water mark for … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: He was different from most of the great stars of the golden age in that he often played villains — even late in his career — comically in Mister … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: One critic wrote of White Heat that only a hard-boiled director like Raoul Walsh could get away with having Cagney — during a terrible migraine attack — sit on … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged James Cagney, Peter Bogdanovich, Public Enemy, Raoul Walsh, White Heat, William Wellman
Leave a comment
James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Peter Bogdanovich’s marvelous book, Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: The year before I had run for Orson Welles a 16mm print of Raoul Walsh’s devastating gangster film starring Cagney, White Heat (1949); Welles had … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged James Cagney, Orson Welles, Peter Bogdanovich, Raoul Walsh, White Heat
1 Comment
The Entrance of the Star
White Heat starts with no fanfare. A car shrieks along a curvy road. And then suddenly there’s James Cagney – big close-up. I like a movie that tosses us into the action, I like a movie that is centered on … Continue reading