The Artist

[ThesFlishThngs]

I know just what you mean. It may end its run here tomorrow & I'm thinking of taking myself to see it one more time on the big screen (via projector), just for a final opportunity to take in those precise, beautiful details.

 

[Mrs Chaddsley_Corbett]

I do so hope that "The Artist" & "Iron Lady" jointly win best picture, I am positively Torn!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I know just what you mean. It may end its run here tomorrow & I'm thinking of taking myself to see it one more time on the big screen (via projector), just for a final opportunity to take in those precise, beautiful details.

Here's just one example: when we first see George Valentin (at the height of his career), he is wearing a black tail suit with a white shirt and vest. Peppy, the nobody, is wearing what appears to be light grey. Toward the end of the movie, the down-and-out George is wearing a dirty light grey suit, while big star Peppy is wearing --you guessed it-- a black coat over a white dress. Coincidence? Not according to Mark Bridges, the film's costume designer.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Yes, everything is for a reason. On the stairs, in the Bradbury, George is, for the first time, wearing blend-in-with-the-background grey, and is on his way down, literally, whilst Peppy is going up, and wearing brighter clothes. I like how when they're together, it's always Peppy who is talking talking talking, sharing, expressing, and George just smiles and listens, taking it all in.
And of course, the deco couple sculptures behind Doris at the dining table; in every scene they drift further and further apart, until only the female remains in view.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And of course, the deco couple sculptures behind Doris at the dining table; in every scene they drift further and further apart, until only the female remains in view.

Yep! And the name of the movie theater --"The Lonely Star"-- located across the street from George, seen just after the auction. And the name of Peppy's next movie after that scene: "The Guardian Angel".

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

"Thief of her Heart" poster in the dressing room....

 

[LizzieMaine]

There are many Douglas Fairbanks references in the picture -- Valentin's overall persona is a direct lift of Fairbanks, but various details in the film are also nods to Doug. The "Thief of her Heart" image immediately reminded me of "The Thief of Baghdad", one of Fairbank's most popular films. The footage George watches in his apartment is actual footage from Fairbanks' "The Mark of Zorro," with a quick scene of George himself in Zorro garb spliced in to replace an identical shot of Fairbanks.

 

[Doctor Strange]

A brief interview with the film's set decorator:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/garden/robert-gould-set-decorator-for-the-artist-qa.html

 

[Marc Chevalier]

There are many Douglas Fairbanks references in the picture ...

Interesting fact: the actor who played George Valentin says that he also consciously imitated actor/dancer Gene Kelly (as he appeared in "Singin' in the Rain"), right down to Kelly's crinkly-eyed smile. And Valentin's blonde prima donna co-star strongly brings to mind "Singin' in the Rain"s screechy Lina Lamont.

 

[Espee]

Was there a streetcar anywhere in the film? Seems like there should have been, for the place and time.
And considering the influence of "Singin' in the Rain"... which certainly has a streetcar.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's a bus -- Peppy rides it to the studio while reading the "Variety" issue with her picture on the front -- but no trolley.

 

[Feraud]

The footage George watches in his apartment is actual footage from Fairbanks' "The Mark of Zorro," with a quick scene of George himself in Zorro garb spliced in to replace an identical shot of Fairbanks.

I love that the filmmakers did the Fairbanks splice and pointed it out to my wife when we saw it.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Alas, this is exactly what I predicted. (Actually, judging by Box Office Mojo, the film is doing better than I expected - I wasn't even convinced that it would make back its production cost domestically.)

The bottom line is, the modern American audience is simply too wary of trying something really different to embrace such an unusual project. Winning a bunch of Oscars will undoubtedly help, but there's no way that this picture is ever going to be a fullblown mainstream success. Not a silent b/w movie set so far in the past, and made by a bunch of French people with hard-to-pronounce names. It's just too bizarre, too foreign, for today's dumbed-down-to-the-floor moviegoers.

As I've said here before: There is nothing you can tell me that will further lower my opinion of the American public!

I grew up in Westchester. I hear ya.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Saw "The Artist" last night and thought it was as good as advertised. Loved the dancing (I'm a dancer) and the period costumes looked good to me. Would love to know where they got their newsboy caps. And his suit was great until it became disheveled. If he doesn't win for best actor, something is wrong.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Went to see it yesterday at the matinee, I was surprised that the theatre was packed when we walked in. This is definitely a movie that has to be watched several times just to catch all of the details. That morning we watched CBS’s “Sunday Morning” and they had an interview with the director and the prop house that he rented everything from. He was adamant about making sure that all of the props were period correct.

My wife used to live in L.A. and she was pointing out some places that she recognized. I also recognized a few locations from other movies and television shows. It does highlight Hollywood’s golden age.

If you have not seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it.

 

[Mario]

I think you are correct. People today are so un-used to viewing black and white film, not to mention silent B&W. Hopefully an Academy win will generate some much deserved revenue.

Not so long ago I was in bar with a friend, talking about some of my favorite movies which happen to be B&W. Some kid that was at the same table kept looking at me and at some point could no longer restrain himself. He leaned forward and exclaimed, rather excidedly, that it has to be the most stupid thing in the whole wide world to watch old B&W (and sometimes even silent) films if you can have modern movies with bright colors, booming surround sound and cool CG effetcs - and all that in 3D! That's the whole point about watching movies, he said...

All that said I'm happy to see that The Artist turns out to be such a huge success (I still have to watch it).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Went to see it yesterday at the matinee, I was surprised that the theatre was packed when we walked in. This is definitely a movie that has to be watched several times just to catch all of the details. That morning we watched CBS’s “Sunday Morning” and they had an interview with the director and the prop house that he rented everything from. He was adamant about making sure that all of the props were period correct.

They did pretty well, too -- except for one glaring anachronism with the phonograph George is listening to just before the big blowup with his wife. The turntable part is clearly an automatic record changer from about 1950 --playing a 78rpm record at 33 1/3 rpm, no less. In real life, someone of George's stature would have likely owned an impressive cabinet-model Orthophonic Victrola.

The other thing that bugged me was something that always shows up in modern "period" films -- the scene outside the premiere where George and Peppy first meet had radio announcers carrying spring-mounted carbon microphones on handles -- in reality, these microphones had to be mounted on floor or table stands and the performers would have to come to them. Moving a spring-mounted microphone around like they do in this scene would have obliterated anything said into them in a mass of vibration noise.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Not so long ago I was in bar with a friend, talking about some of my favorite movies which happen to be B&W. Some kid that was at the same table kept looking at me and at some point could no longer restrain himself. He leaned forward and exclaimed, rather excidedly, that it has to be the most stupid thing in the whole wide world to watch old B&W (and sometimes even silent) films if you can have modern movies with bright colors, booming surround sound and cool CG effetcs - and all that in 3D! That's the whole point about watching movies, he said...

All that said I'm happy to see that The Artist turns out to be such a huge success (I still have to watch it).

He was probably related to Ted Turner. Remember when he had this big push to make all B&W films into color?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
This is key:"The Artist" is one of the very few modern movies set in the 1920s whose actors and extras really, truly look, stand and move as if they are from that decade ... and are at ease in it. For instance, 99% of the folks in "The Artist" are comfortably wearing their very '20s clothes, instead of (uncomfortably) looking as if the clothes are wearing them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not only that, the faces look right, too -- even on the extras. The fan who speaks to George on the way out of Peppy's movie, making a remark about his dog, is an absolute dead ringer, in both face and physique, for Lyle Tayo -- a woman who did hundreds of bit parts in Hal Roach comedies in the late twenties and early thirties. Somebody chose the bit players very very carefully.