Saturday Matinee: Faces

"Richard Forst has grown old. One night, he leaves his wife for Jeannie Rapp, a young woman who does not like friendship. Meanwhile, Richard's wife, Maria, is seduced by Chet, a kind young man from Detroit... A film about the meaningless of life for a certain kind of wealthy middle-aged people." from IMDb

Well then....if that is all the Internet Movie Database has to say....LOL

This is one of those movies with really weird scenes.  There is a lot...WAY LOT of drinking so maybe that should explain things.  They drink so much and act so stupid you almost feel sorry for them.  You know when you have a Girls Night Out and there is always that ONE friend who drinks way too much and dances all weird and thinks she is funny (ok...I know I have been THAT girl once or twice...LOL)?  Well almost everyone in the movie is THAT girl.  Everyone but Jeanie (and her friend on one scene) and this gal makes a living off of a "good time".

She is absolutly my favorite character in this movie.  Gena Rowlands playing her might have SOMETHING to do with it, along with other reasons I will not get into (that would take my entire blog into a new direction).  

Richard meets Jeanie while out at "the Losers" coctail lounge with a friend.  They have a few laughs, the friend offends Jeanie because she has no use for him and they leave.  Richard arrives home to his attractive wife, more drinks, and a hot meal.  Richards wife (I forget her name, sorry) tries to keep things interesting.  She is pretty, seems to be able to hold a conversation, and tries to keep life interesting....but she is "not a sex machine" as she tells Richard.  You see, Richard is all wound up from being at Jeanie's house without "release" and would rather stay in than go to a movie as his wife suggests. A few more "words" and Richard announces he wants a divorce.  No discussion...he will send for his clothes in the morning.  Richard is cruel in this scene...but then it seems we are not really "in" on teh entire situation.  I feel as I walked in durring the middle of something.  I mean surely he does not want a divorce because he is bored?  His wife does not amuse him?  Their dinner conversation was going so well before.... I mean the wife even told a story about how her friend's husband talks in his sleep about "kissing a women.....(down there she motions)".

Side note, this is one of the first films in cinema history to talk openly about cunnilingus (from IMDb)

Oh....after the "I want a divorce" anouncement and in front of his wife, Richard calls Jeanie to ask if he can see her again that night.  He is just cruel.

He is no better to Jeanie.  I know, I know...she is a "Pro" and should not have feelings but she falls for this creep.  This old, wrinkled, and I am sure smelly from the amount of liquor and smokes he consumes, creep. 

While Richard is being entertained by the beautiful Jeanie (remember she is played by Gena Rowlands), his wife calls up her gal pals and hits the town.  These ladies are middle aged, upper middle class housewives...  and they are living it up.  They head to a night club, drink (of course), dance, and meet a young (supposed to be good looking, I guess) man....who they bring home (to Richard's house).  He charms the high heels off of several of the women but when they all head home, for being offended in one way or another, he stays with "the wife" (goodness I wish I could remember her name...LOL).  Well as you can imagine Richard comes home..... and this is where I will leave you to see the movie for yourself.

This was an independant movie directed by John Cassavetes who you might know as the director of Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes was married to Gena Rowlands. 

...oh and Richard was played by John Marley.

Snow Day Matinee: The High Cost of Loving

Since the weather outside is frightful and my car is not acting so delightful, I decided to cuddle up on the sofa and find something on the DVR.  I have been recording some classics from TCM and other such channels. 

Today's pic is The High Cost of Loving. (1958) Middle-aged middle-manager Jim Fry, with the same company for fifteen years, is in a comfortable rut. But life becomes less predictable when he doesn't receive an invitation to an important luncheon being held by the new company president. Convinced that he's about to lose his job, Jim begins to mull over his limited prospects when his wife confirms that she's pregnant.



The film was billed as a comedy and it did have many funny moments,  but parts of it are far from comedic.  Jim and Jenny had been married for 9 years and were childless.  Jenny is anxious to have a baby and while waiting for the results of many pregnancy tests, she is discouraged by the first two coming up negative (I can relate to this...but it has only been one year for us). Another example of the "not so funny" parts is once he has come to the conclusion that he is indeed "getting the axe", the couple starts to think about their bills.  The list goes on and on....garbage disposal:  5 months worth of payments left, the deep freeze:  6 months left, the new Washer and Dryer he gave her 2 Christmases ago, the TV, Hi-fi, Divan, the 2 chairs that match, lamp, deep freeze....and the list went on. Many can relate to that kind of delima with today's economy and many job cuts. 

I enjoyed this movie and would like to watch it again.  I do not want to give too much of it away so I will just touch on a few of the actors.


Gena Rowlands as Jenny Fry was very fun to watch.  I have only seen Ms Rowlands in her more recent movies like  Something to Talk About, Hope Floats, and of course The Notebook.  She is not one I think of in classic movies, but that surely has changed.  She was absolutely beautiful.  She wore the fashions of the late 50's (in this movie) wonderfully, and that is something I enjoy seeing when watching a classic film, the costumes.  She is a very talented woman.  One could see the hurt in her eyes when her first two pregnancy tests came back negative.

The High Cost of Loving was Ms Rowlands first film.  She was better known, at the time, for stage and TV work.  Some of her roles on the small screen include the soap opera Peyton Place and Columbo.  Later, in the 80's, she appeared as First lady Betty Ford in The Better Ford Story.

Other movies I will be sure to look for staring Ms Rowlands are A Woman Under the Influence and Opening Night.  She received a Golden Globe for both.

Jim Backus as Mr Mason was amusing with his little sayings.  In one scene, as Jim Fry tried to get hired at his firm, he sputtered out a number of cute little "one liners" such as "driving with your hand off the wheel" and " don't mean to mow your lawn" and "punched the ticket when we had the chance" and "staking a claim worth mining" and "bonified as large print".  I just think talking like that is very funny.  We should try to pepper our convos with such little cuties.  One might better remember Jim Backus as Thursten Howell III from Gilligan's Island, although he is known for many many other roles.  It is said that he "was one of the few actors to do it all: radio, Broadway, movies, television and cartoons" by The Internet and Movie Database.

Of course the star of the film,  Jose Ferrer, was wonderful.  He had such a defeated look on his face for most of the movie.  He played the "confused about what I am going to do" man very well.  Mr. Ferrer Mr Ferrer was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award.  The award was for Best Supporting Actor in  The Dauphin, Charles VII in Joan of Arc, he debut film.  He went on to star in many other films and won an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actor when he portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac.




Jose Ferrer was also a very accomplished stage actor.  When introducing the film on TCM the host, Robert Osborne, said that Mr. Ferrer had to be parcuaded to make the jump from stage to screen.

One fact, about Mr. Ferrer's life, that I found interesting was he was married to Rosemary Clooney.  She was his third wife and they had 5 children.

 

Ok, so all in all this was not a bad day stuck inside.  I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone who is stuck inside for the day or anyone just looking for a good classic movie to watch.

Tiffany