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Underwhelmed By Greatness?
Have you ever had this experience? Have you ever sat down with a book, a film, an album, what have you, that you’ve heard from time immemorial was a classic and thought…eh? Maybe you would have liked it if you had come to it cold, but it just couldn’t bear the weight of its own legacy.
I’ve always been a big Alfred Hitchcock fan. Vertigo is one of my favorite films of all time. The episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled “Breakdown” is one of the most gripping 30 minutes of television I’ve ever seen (you can find it on Netflix or Amazon). While I’ve worked my way through most of the Hitchcock corpus, I had, until recently, somehow failed to make the time for Rear Window, considered one of the director’s all-time classics. Finding myself with some unexpected free time on a recent Sunday, I popped it up on Netflix. And, well…eh.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid film. The acting is stellar, confining the action primarily to Jimmy Stewart’s apartment was clever (it’s essentially the movie equivalent of a bottle episode), and there are some moments of genuine suspense. Overall, however, I came away underwhelmed. Without giving too much away (although, to be fair, the film is 60 years old, so a spoiler alert is an act of charity), the tension in the plot runs as follows: one of the main characters either did A or did B. In the end, it turns out he did B. Not exactly white-knuckle stuff.
Now, to be fair to the film, I probably would have had a much different reaction had I seen it in a cinema in 1954. In 2015, however, when thrillers go to baroque lengths to hide the ball on plot twists, Rear Window seemed almost pedestrian by comparison. Had it been some obscure little film, I probably would have delighted in it. As a movie that’s so deeply engrained in pop culture, however, that my first consciousness of it came through a childhood viewing of a Simpsons episode, it had a higher bar to clear.
And, honestly, that feels, at some level, like a disservice to the film. But there’s simply no way to decouple my reaction from the expectations created by decades worth of hype.
What “masterpieces” have you come to late, only to discover that your expectations were disappointed?
Published in Entertainment, Literature
Movie buff that you are, you should be ashamed. ;)
Here are some of the reasons I love it:
It’s a complete Hollywood story; strong underdog protagonist, believable human villain empowered by well-intentioned but weak politicians, wonderful love story, sacrifice and symbolism, excellent cinematography, a terribly sad ending, etc.
The action sequences are really neat. They are intense without being flashy, realistic without being too graphic, and move the story along instead of diverting attention from it.
The cast is phenomenal. They all nail their roles, even Tony Curtis.
IMO this is Kubrick’s best overall film.
-E
Don’t let’s be coy–though it might be fun for me to tell you, go read this book & after you put however many hours into it you get to know why I called you ignorant & thank me for it. I can recommend videos on youtube, too, if you care–Paul Cantor has really good courses recorded & published, as they say, gratis.
I would say, it’s clear from common sense that I feel no need to waste hours chasing your wild horses. I’m not sure how you could suspect otherwise or reasonably place your hope elsewhere!
I’m glad you are at least suggesting you’re moving away from that limb. Or are you? Are you prepared to move away from your previous claim that people have by proof arrived at certainty? Or do you mean by raging controversies that most people are both stupid & angry, whereas these people you like have proved their point to a reasonable certainty?
This is really piddling stuff. You should be ashamed to talk this ‘what have you published or lectured in front of a camera’! I liked you better when you were calling me ignorant–that’s honest acrimony, that’s the bellicose spirit you need if you’re going to hold on to your wildly humorous notions.
It’s a damned lie & slander, first of all, to say I’ve set up myself as an authority. Only my most scurrilous enemies could stoop so low–have you been talking to them? Are they plotting against me once more?
Maybe I do not understand what you are asking, however–are you asking me to name the scholars I think get Shakespeare right? Or are you seriously saying that unless I’m some kind of credentialed academic, I should not dare to talk with your combination of silliness & arrogance about proved certainties! I challenge you to tell us all whether the free born men, women, & children of Ricochet have a right to prance in arrogant silliness all over Shakespeare, or only your quoted authorities & yourself!
No need to make such claims or promises on my account–I ain’t thin-skinned & this ain’t no videotaped lecture of a publication in an academic whatchamacallit…
Well, rather than have the others on this thread suffer through this back and forth, I’m happy to continue this on Private Mail if you choose to do so. Ta.
Apologies if this has been addressed, but went to see “Dr. Zhivago” in high school with drama class. Extremely long, film broke over 1/2 way thru, & most of us were yawning. No desire to read book.
Except, of course, for Tattoo You (1981).
I introduced one of my son’s caregivers, a young man in his mid-twenties to Vertigo and Rear Window the other day – both of which he found quite impressive – but he had absolutely no clue who Jimmy Stewart was. So, I quickly rattled off some of his memorable roles from films – none of which registered with him, as well as mentioned Stewart’s successful war record as a B-24 pilot that he was always reluctant to talk about…and eventually being promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the late 50s.
Maybe there’s too much garbage about diversity and climate hysteria and embracing of alternative lifestyles being crammed into the heads of students in elementary, high school and college and not enough accurate or in depth history, philosophy and art. Maybe if students had a proper grounding in the humanities a lot of these classic films would be more appreciated.
That is related to the topic of The Closing of the American Mind, which we’re doing this year and I checked out from my university library last week.
The boy’s ignorance about Jimmy Stewart can, it seems, really be in part blamed on his parents and grandparents. He has now been dead for nearly 18 years, much of his young life. Remember in the early 80’s the hit song Bette Davis Eyes? It is inconceivable someone could write a song* – or have a #1 hit – like that today. I was born a few months after its release, so I don’t remember it, but hearing it some years later I at least had a vague impression of who Bette Davis was, as my Mom watched movies from her era when I was a kid.
* Looking it up now I see that the song was actually written in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon and session singer Donna Weiss, and even Kim Carnes who had a big hit with it is now nearly 70.
Even for 1927, though, the ending is as I put it in my 2011 Sound+Image review, ‘cringingly cheesy’
Listening to it now on Rhapsody. Approaching.
However, I had to skip Start Me Up, which I have heard so many times, I could happily never hear it again.
I had a JP phase about 13 years ago. Maiden simply writes better and more intelligent songs.
I saw “Spartacus” when it first came out in theaters. I was just a kid. I loved it so much I stayed to watch it twice, and then came back the next day to watch it twice again.
What a cast. Besides Kirk Douglas, there was Olivier, Ustinov, Laughton. I fell in love with Jean Simmons.
Of course, it takes Shakespeare to introduce real discord into this thread.
Yeah…go figure. Bloody Bard.
Fame is fleeting. There are only a handful that were active before the 60’s that might be known by young people today. There’s the tragic trio: James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis.
Then there’s Bogart.
Maybe they know Crosby. As Gracie Allen once said, “If they ever change the color of Christmas, he’s through!”
Sinatra is still hot. Tony Bennett will sing a duet with your car wash attendant if he gets paid enough.
If it’s true that those born post 1990 just aren’t familiar with the great studio actors and films, then why is that? Has the Internet and social media simply obliterated any interest in old films? I realize that many in this age group don’t even watch much television anymore and it would be interesting to see what the demographics are for services like Netflix or Amazon Prime and if they skew heavily toward people born before 1990. Is it also because hardly anyone goes to movie theaters anymore and that films – even new films – have to compete with a plethora (yes, I said that word) of other competing entertainment choices on the Internet including online gaming? Will some of the great films from the 1930s to 1970s ever enjoy a renaissance of awareness and popularity? Or will they simply fade into the past? I’ll be okay…pouring a Scotch now. Popping in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Looking forward to Walter Huston’s happy dance.
I agree about the cast of Spartacus. Kirk Douglas produced the movie, and wanted the Romans – Olivier, Laughton, Ustinov – to have foppish British accents and the blue collar guys down in the arena to have working class American accents, but Jean Simmons was too good to pass up for her role so he broke his rule.
Some people just won’t sit down and watch a black and white film. They don’t get the jokes in comedies. Musicals? I don’t think so.
That’s so depressing.
John Wayne
Maybe Steve McQueen
I guarantee you my kids will know Bob Hope, William Powell, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Katherine Hepburn. Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck too.
Also Jack Benny and George & Gracie.
Yes to Wayne.
The Harris Poll of Favorite Stars 2014
1. Tom Hanks
2. Denzel Washington
3. Jennifer Lawrence
4. Julia Roberts
5. Sandra Bullock
6. Johnny Depp
7. John Wayne
8. Clint Eastwood
9. Brad Pitt
10. Meryl Streep
I used to usually avoid musicals, but have seen a number of them in just the last couple of years. I didn’t even see The Sound of Music until my late twenties. I saw the 1951 Showboat last week, and that performance of Old Man River really stole that movie. For the opposite of this topic, I saw Dr. Doolittle a year ago and was recently surprised to learn it was a major flop, and thought poorly of by many. Seemed a fine enough movie to me.
Let me add Irene Dunne. She was one of the stars, too.
Taste was less democratic back then. There are too many undemocratic things in those movies…
For an answer to the post, which I haven’t actually done yet, maybe someone can explain to me the greatness of Grand Hotel.
I finally saw Easy Rider a while back. Probably more of a generational “classic” than a real one. Certainly undeserving, though it had moments. I was watching it thinking how can they have made a movie about this topic so dull. And the ending was stupid and made Deliverance seem subtle.
On the Beach too. After an atomic bomb hit America, apparently only uninteresting people survived.
Taxi Driver too. Why “you talking to me?” is so famous is anybody’s guess.
Ibsen, Doll’s House. They forced us to read it in high school, and later they kept producing it and producing it, telling us we had to love it like a sacrament if we wanted to be considered feminists. What a horrid, overblown, overlong, wordy, heavy, boring, irritating mess.
Whatshisname – oh, Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest. The entire planet may as well know that I have tried and failed 3 times to read it through and understand it. Towards the end, all the masculine proper nouns and pronouns are more tangled and obscure than triple and quadruple negatives in some legal proceeding. My eyes cross, migraine threatens, so I fling it across the room and “move to Continue.”
The 1952 movie of The Importance of Being Earnest with Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, Margaret Rutherford and Joan Greenwood is very entertaining.
Brian Watt: The 1952 movie of The Importance of Being Earnest with Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, Margaret Rutherford and Joan Greenwood is very entertaining.
Thank you; I’ll make a note.
Will I understand it? Does the real Earnest wear a Beanie or something? Stick a pencil behind his left ear?
Saw the play at American Players Theater last summer. Didn’t have any trouble keeping the characters straight.
I don’t know how well Grand Hotel is regarded. At the time, it was the first all-star movie. I think the scenes with Greta Garbo hold up, but she seems to be in a different (and better) movie from everyone else.
There will be a great reckoning when the Baby Boomers pass from the scene. Everything will be reassessed top to bottom by people who need every cultural milestone of the 60s and 70s validated as a personal matter.
I don’t think Easy Rider is terrible, but a lot of it is hokey.
Thanks, Miffed. Hope rises.
Query to all who may know: Is To Catch a Thief the one in which they are driving around and She asks Him if he would like “a leg or a thigh?”/”?
It means something to me because of a certain similarity to my parents’ courtship, believe it or not. Not the Riviera setting, but still.
From what I remember…uh…no. You shouldn’t have any trouble following it. It’s very well done. It may even be available on Netflix or Hulu…not sure. I think Criterion has a version of it.