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Poll

What's your favorite film by John Huston?

The Maltese Falcon
10 (26.3%)
In This Our Life
0 (0%)
Across the Pacific
0 (0%)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
6 (15.8%)
Key Largo
1 (2.6%)
The Asphalt Jungle
1 (2.6%)
The Red Badge of Courage
0 (0%)
The African Queen
4 (10.5%)
Moulin Rouge
0 (0%)
Beat the Devil
0 (0%)
Moby Dick
0 (0%)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
1 (2.6%)
The Barbarian and the Geisha
0 (0%)
The Unforgiven
0 (0%)
The Misfits
0 (0%)
Freud
0 (0%)
The List of Adrian Messenger
0 (0%)
The Night of the Iguana
0 (0%)
The Bible: In the Beginning...
0 (0%)
Reflections in a Golden Eye
2 (5.3%)
The Kremlin Letter
0 (0%)
Fat City
1 (2.6%)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
0 (0%)
The MacKintosh Man
0 (0%)
The Man Who Would Be King
3 (7.9%)
Wise Blood
1 (2.6%)
Victory
0 (0%)
Annie
0 (0%)
Under the Volcano
0 (0%)
Prizzi's Honor
0 (0%)
The Dead
4 (10.5%)
haven't seen any
3 (7.9%)
don't like any
1 (2.6%)
other (please specify)
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 37

Author Topic: Huston, John  (Read 8191 times)

oldkid

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #20 on: December 16, 2011, 08:33:02 PM »
I am the lone voice for Key Largo.  I haven't seen many of Huston's films, but I certainly appreciated Key Largo more than the top two contenders.
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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #21 on: December 17, 2011, 02:59:29 AM »
Annie is great, you guys are dumb.  :P  ::)  ;D  ;)

The Maltese Falcon (A-)
The Dead (B+)
Annie (B)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (B)
The African Queen (C)

verbALs

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #22 on: December 17, 2011, 06:32:12 AM »
I am the lone voice for Key Largo.  I haven't seen many of Huston's films, but I certainly appreciated Key Largo more than the top two contenders.

You are right about KL except for The Maltese Falcon but I have form in this area. In fact I am totally boring on the subject, I admit. Another list I can't believe I haven't done. I have seen few Huston films relatively and all of them are deep green for me, so I should explore more of his work. This is a very strong list, one of the strongest most consistently good set of films.

The Maltese Falcon
Key Largo
The African Queen
The Man Who Would Be King
Prizzi's Honor*
The Asphalt Jungle
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre


* I would recommend all of Richard Condon's Prizzi series but then I can't leave out The Manchurian Candidate or Winter Kills...JUST READ ALL OF THEM
« Last Edit: February 26, 2012, 07:35:34 AM by verbALs »
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1SO

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Huston, John
« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2013, 10:10:14 PM »
1. The Maltese Falcon
2. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
3. The African Queen
4. The Asphalt Jungle

5. The Dead
6. In This Our Life
7. The Man Who Would Be King
8. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
9. Across the Pacific
10. Annie
11. Fat City
12. Let There Be Light

13. Moulin Rouge
14. The List of Adrian Messenger
15. Victory
16. We Were Strangers
17. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
18. Moby Dick
19. Key Largo
20. The MacKintosh Man
21. The Unforgiven
22. The Red Badge of Courage
23. Prizzi's Honor
24. Beat the Devil
25. Wise Blood
26. The Roots of Heaven
27. The Bible
28. The Night of the Iguana

29. Reflections in a Golden Eye
30. Under the Volcano
31. The Misfits
« Last Edit: May 13, 2018, 12:24:01 AM by 1SO »

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2013, 10:27:14 PM »

Across the Pacific
* * *

Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet in a very engaging mystery thriller involving Japanese sympathizers. It plays like reheated Maltese Falcon leftovers, but that's still tastier than most fresh dishes. Bogart and Greenstreet do their usual routine of keeping secrets from each other while appearing friendly and conversational. The revelation is Astor, who I really only remember from my 50+ viewings of Falcon. Because of that I don't trust her for a second, but she shows wonderful comic flair and is very likable despite my doubts.

The comedy (involving broad topics such as sea sickness, sunburns and smeared lipstick) is forced into the mystery but it's funny enough that I give it a pass. Wondering why this is mostly unknown and unwatched despite a lot of solid mystery and a couple of exciting action scenes. The romance between Bogart and Astor sparks lightening fast, and seems to very in level of commitment from scene to scene. Also, - personal opinion - I don't see the attraction of Astor. Bogart describes her as the kind of woman men dream about, but she always looks to me like a tired housewife. Bacall never got this many on-screen compliments. They're trying to sell her as attractive and it's an overly-aggressive campaign.

Antares

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #25 on: February 10, 2013, 08:34:27 AM »
The revelation is Astor, who I really only remember from my 50+ viewings of Falcon. Because of that I don't trust her for a second, but she shows wonderful comic flair and is very likable despite my doubts.

One of my favorite actresses. Check her out in The Palm Beach Story, Dodsworth and as the sympathetic prostitute in Act of Violence. She also has a small role in another decent film, A Kiss Before Dying.
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #26 on: February 10, 2013, 10:00:30 AM »
Dodsworth is a favorite, yet I remember it for Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton. The Palm Beach Story is one where I disagree with the majority. Maybe I'll add it as a rewatch. Act of Violence is good, but again I don't remember Astor. It was Robert Ryan's show. The one I'm curious about is 1941's The Great Lie with Bette Davis. I'd much rather watch Olivia de Havilland. She's an actress I never forget, and a beauty I can believe men dream about.

verbALs

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #27 on: August 13, 2013, 09:30:20 AM »
1. The Maltese Falcon
2. Key Largo
3. The African Queen
4. The Man Who Would Be King
5. Night of the Iguana
6. Prizzi's Honor
7. The Asphalt Jungle
8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
9. The List of Adrian Messenger
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #28 on: July 08, 2014, 12:19:51 AM »

In This Our Life
"It was an awful thing. I know that, but I didn't mean to hurt anybody."

I had to get past the snooty title. That was accomplished by the presence of Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Coburn and a bunch of familiar faces. Also, this is Huston's encore after The Maltese Falcon, and once again, even though it's a lot of talking in rooms, the framing is bold and the acting is fiery. Huston often has Davis throwing looks away from the cast and towards us, so we become complicit in her increasingly evil and desperate schemes.

The best moments are between Davis and Coburn. He plays her uncle, though it's clear his feelings for her are more than familial. He plays the rich suitor hoping to negotiate a lavish price for happiness. She's the tease who knows just when to bat her eyes to get what she wants. These two tossed away their morality, and both actors tear into the dialogue with their claws. It's especially interesting to see cuddly Coburn boldly going after Davis.

The film is lacking an engine for a long time. It's all fine performances with no focus. Happily, it does latch onto some conflict and everyone gets to go from solid to big. (If you like Bette Davis big, you don't want to miss this.) The final third is especially fine, where an actor can just walk into a room, find someone else and just the looks on their faces are saying "fasten your seatbelts".
Rating: * * *

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: John Huston
« Reply #29 on: July 08, 2014, 02:50:59 AM »
Fat City
* * *

I've about had my fill of boxing dramas, but filmmakers always find new wrinkles. This one goes to the seediest, grungiest, most depressing level, focusing on the fighters who often go first in a long night of dingy fight cards. Huston's direction is deliberately unfussy, but it comes dangerously close to the cookie-cutter direction of television. He also gives Susan Tyrrell a lot of room and she annoys the hell out of it. She was also nominated for an Oscar, which has me more interested in the film climate around her at the time then anything I have to say about Fat City.

 

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