#cinematography by hal mohr

[byneddiedingo]

James Cagney and Anita Louise in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, 1935) Cast: Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Olivia de Havilland, Jean Muir, James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Victor Jory, Anita Louise, Mickey Rooney, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Dewey Robinson, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale. Screenplay: Charles Kenyon, Mary C. McCall Jr., based on a play by William Shakespeare. Cinematography: Hal Mohr. Art direction: Anton Grot. Film editing: Ralph Dawson. Music: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, adapted from works by Felix Mendelssohn. Costume design: Max Rée. Choreography: Bronislava Nijinska The spirit that animates this version of A Midsummer Night's Dream is not that of William Shakespeare but Felix Mendelssohn. Shakespeare's text has been trimmed to a nubbin and hashed up by the "arrangers," Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr., and it's gabbled by the all-star cast. Strangely, Olivia de Havilland and Mickey Rooney are the worst offenders, since they are the only members of the cast of Max Reinhardt's celebrated 1934 Hollywood Bowl production who made it into the movie. De Havilland delivers her lines with heavy emphasis on seemingly random words and with odd pauses, while Rooney punctuates every line with giggles, chortles, and shrieks that affect some viewers like fingernails on a chalkboard. Nobody in the cast seems to be aware that they're speaking verse. Fortunately, the decision was made to use the Mendelssohn overture and incidental music (along with snippets of other works by Mendelssohn), and to have it orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The result is an opulently balletic version of the play, taking advantage of what can be done in movies that can't be done on stage. Is it good? Maybe not, but it's much more fun than the stodgily reverent version of Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936) that MGM came up with the following year. Casting James Cagney as Bottom/Pyramus and Joe E. Brown as Flute/Thisby was a masterstroke, and if they had been directed by someone with a surer sense of American comic idiom than Reinhardt, the Viennese refugee from Hitler who spoke very little English (co-director William Dieterle, a German émigré, acted as interpreter), the results would have been classic -- as it is, they're just bumptious fun. Much of the design for the movie is reminiscent of the work of early 20th century illustrators of children's books like Walter Crane, Arthur Rackham, and John R. Neill, though with a tendency toward the twee. But there is a spectacular moment in the film when Oberon gathers the fairies, gnomes, and bat-winged sprites to depart, under a billowing smoky black train. The cinematography by Hal Mohr won the only write-in Oscar ever granted by the Academy.

#A Midsummer Night's Dream #Max Reinhardt #William Dieterle #James Cagney #Anita Louise

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: The Monster

👻 My Kofi ❤️

Source Material: "The Monster" by Crane Wilbur Year: 1925 Genre: Horror Comedy, Sci-Fi Horror Rating: UR (Suggested: PG) Country of Origin: United States Language: Silent Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes

Director: Roland West Writers: Willard Mack, Albert Kenyon Cinematographer: Hal Mohr Cast: Lon Chaney, Johnny Arthur, Gertrude Olmstead, Charles Sellon, Hallam Cooley

Plot: A woman and the two men who love her find themselves trapped in an asylum by a mad doctor.

Review: With brazen racism and ableism, as well as empty leads, this film fluctuates between being dull, offensive, and nonsensical.

Overall Rating: 1/5

Story: 1/5 - This script would be totally cliche if it were coherent. Instead, it's just a mess of mad doctor shenanigans and failed humor.

Performances: 2/5 - Lon Chaney does his best to be maniacal, but often misses the mark. Olmstead, Arthur, and Sellon are bland.

Cinematography: 3.5/5 - There's some fun use of shadows.

Editing: 2.5/5

Music: 2/5

Effects: 3.5/5 - There's two well-staged car crashes and a fun sequence of a character scaling power lines.

Sets: 3/5 - Diverse but sparsely decorated sets.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 2/5 - Decent costumes but often sloppy makeup. The brownface is just awful.

Trigger Warnings:

Ableism

Dated depiction of mental health facilities

Racism

Brownface

#The Monster (1925) #The Monster #Roland West #sci fi horror #horror comedy #science fiction #Dread by the Decade #review #1920s

[docrotten]

DRAGONSLAYER (1981) – Episode 222 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“You’ll be dead Galen Bradwarden, Sorcerer’s Apprentice. You’ll be dead, the dragon will still be alive, and I’ll still be a virgin! You’ll be dead, and I don’t care!” Sounds like a good foundation for a lasting relationship, right? Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr  – as they check out probably the most realistic dragon (did I hear someone say wyvern?) set to film in Dragonslayer (1981).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 222 – Dragonslayer (1981)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A King has made a pact with a dragon where he sacrifices virgins to it, and the dragon leaves his kingdom alone. An old wizard, and his keen young apprentice volunteer to kill the dragon and attempt to save the next virgin in line, the King’s own daughter.

  Director: Matthew Robbins

Writers: Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins

Music by: Alex North

Cinematography by: Derek Vanlint (director of photography)

Film Editing by: Tony Lawson

Visual Effects by:

Sam Comstock (animation supervisor: ILM)

Alan Maley (matte painting supervisor: ILM)

Dennis Muren (supervisor of special visual effects: ILM)

Ken Ralston (dragon supervisor: ILM)

Thomas G. Smith (effects production supervisor: ILM) (as Thomas Smith)

Phil Tippett (dragon supervisor: ILM)

Gene Whiteman (equipment engineering supervisor: ILM)

Selected Cast:

Peter MacNicol as Galen Bradwarden

Caitlin Clarke as Valerian

Ralph Richardson as Ulrich of Cragganmore

John Hallam as Tyrian

Peter Eyre as King Casiodorus Ulfilas

Albert Salmi as Greil (dubbed by Norman Rodway)

Sydney Bromley as Hodge

Chloe Salaman as Princess Elspeth Ulfilas

Emrys James as Simon (Valerian’s Father)

Roger Kemp as Horsrick, Casiodorus’s Chamberlain

Ian McDiarmid as Brother Jacopus

Dragonslayer is Bill’s pick. Surprise! He had read about the technique called go-motion and really enjoys it, calling Vermathrax Pejorative one of the greatest dragons ever put on film. It is also one of his favorite kinds of fantasy movies; one where the world is messy and dirty, and a noble character does not get rescued despite audience expectations.

Crystal labels Dragonslayer as one of her all-time favorite movies. It would not be nearly so memorable for her without the special effects and the dragon. She also points out that technically, it is a wyvern, not a dragon.  Not a big fan of pure fantasy movies, Jeff loves seeing Dragonslayer for the first time, especially the work from professionals like Phil Tippett & Dennis Muren. The Grue-Crew is universally impressed with Caitlin Clarke’s performance as Valerian and wishes that she was given much more work as a female lead.

If you’re in the mood for a great fire-breathing wyvern, née dragon, you can’t do better than Dragonslayer. At the time of this writing, it is available to stream from Kanopy, Prime, and Paramount+. As far as physical media, a Blu-ray version of Dragonslayer is scheduled for a 21 March 2023 release from Paramount.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal, will be Pet Sematary (1989), directed by Mary Lambert from the novel and screenplay by Stephen King. Sometimes, dead is better.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected].

Check out this episode!

[lostgoonie1980]

111. O Selvagem (The Wild One, 1953), dir. Laslo Benedek

#cinema #laslo benedek #marlon brando #american movie #1950s movies #cult classic #black and white movies #crime #drama #romance #motorcycle gang #bikersploitation #outlaw bikers #small town #anti hero #gang violence #wrongly accused #street fight #cinematography by hal mohr #cinefilos

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

The Green Pastures (1936) was photographed by Hal Mohr who had 148 cinematography credits,  His entries among my best 1,001 movies are The Front Page A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Captain Blood,  Destry Rides Again and Phantom of the Opera (1943).  His other honorable mention is Bullets or Ballots.

#rex ingram #green pastures

[cesarescabinet]

Academy Award for Best Cinematography 1935

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Dir. Max Reinhardt, DP. Hal Mohr)

#a midsummer night's dream #max reinhardt #film #shakespeare

[4eternal-life]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)  | dir. Max Reinhardt , William Dieterle

Cinematography by Hal Mohr

#film #A Midsummer Nights Dream film #Max Reinhardt #William Dieterle #film stills #Hal Mohr #cinematography #A Midsummer Nights Dream1935 #oscars #oscars 1936 #oscars winners #mu #mu cinema #mu old films

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

UNDERWORLD U.S.A.

I dream of a mega-Sam Fuller film in which a squadron of morally ambiguous heroes take on a phalanx of mobsters, spies and child molesters before returning home to a dormitory populated by his great mother figures — Thelma Ritter, Anna Lee, Patsy Kelly and Beatrice Kay. Unlike those other prolific ladies, Kay only made four films, spending most of her career as a singer. But she’s truly glorious in one of Fuller’s best films, UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1960). It’s a Jacobean revenge tragedy set in the world of organized crime. Cliff Robertson wants to avenge his father’s death at the hands of four gangsters. Against Kay’s advice, he worms he way into the mob and, in a precursor of YOJIMBO (1961), starts setting kingpin Robert Emhardt’s lieutenants against each other. Fuller’s style — with long takes, tight closeups and frequent zooms — is like a punch in the face, giving the film an almost irresistible drive. And he fills the screen with little details, from the reclining chair into which Emhardt sinks while ordering his underlings around to a sign about clean sports and clean minds in a gun shop where the mob stores drug packages. Robertson has a sado-masochistic relationship with Dolores Dorn as Cuddles, a prostitute he convinces to turn state’s evidence, and also seems to have a flirtation going with Emhardt’s chief gunsel, Richard Rust. Hal Mohr’s cinematography pulls out all the film noir stops, while Harry Sukman’s score works variations on “Auld Lang Syne” as an ironic underscore to a story in which old acquaintances are never forgotten.

#film noir #samuel fuller

[keeptheemptinessaway]

The Jazz Singer, Alan Crosland (1927)

Cinematography: Hal Mohr | USA

#The Jazz Singer #Le Chanteur de jazz #Alan Crosland #B & W #Intertitles #Family #1927

[notjustnoir]

DYSTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939)

This is one of the best westerns I’ve seen---a good noir set in the U.S. frontier town of Bottleneck.   A land stealing venture, aided by a corrupt mayor and masterminded by a saloon keeper, is challenged by a reformed drunk of a sheriff and his new deputy---a well known lawman Tom Destry.   Destry surprises everyone by refusing to carry a gun, using his wits to deal with problems as they arrive.   Destry and Frenchy, a saloon singer in on the swindle, have a strong attraction played out primarily through words and well shot brief physical interactions.   The murder of the sheriff leads to Destry putting on his father’s guns and leading an attack on the saloon where the killer and the gang are handing out.   The women of the town join in the attack on the saloon, giving a Carry Nation feel.   Frenchy dies taking a bullet for Destry.   The movie ends with Bottleneck being a peaceful, idyllic town.   Jimmy Stewart, who plays Dystry, and Marlene Dietrich, who plays Frenchy, stand out.   Hal Mohr’s cinematography is outstanding.  

#Western #jimmy stewart #marlene deitrich

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #174: The Last Voyage (1960) - dir. Andrew L. Stone

Man, do I love a good disaster movie. Andrew L. Stone’s The Last Voyage is all killer and no filler, an enthralling drama that aims to entertain the viewer from the first frame to the last. As we learn in the opening scene, the luxury ocean liner Claridon is in danger of experiencing serious structural damage due to a fire in the boiler room, an event which soon leads to irreparable issues with the ship’s many ancient valves. As the Claridon’s problems escalate and it becomes more and more obvious that the vessel is destined to sink, we follow the melodrama of Cliff Henderson (Robert Stack), who must save his wife Laurie (Dorothy Malone) and young daughter Jill (Tammy Marihugh) from the wreckage of their destroyed stateroom in the wake of an explosion in the ship’s depths. A tough seafarer named Hank Lawson (Woody Strode), who doesn’t know the Hendersons prior to the ship’s series of accidents, risks his life to help the family extricate Laurie, who is pinned underneath rubble so heavy that it needs to be blasted apart with an acetylene blowtorch. Strode’s performance is excellent, although he is matched by Stack and especially Malone; the fact that Strode, a pioneering black actor, plays a major role in the film without race being a factor in the writing of the character (or in the ways that other characters treat him, which is always with respect) feels remarkably progressive for an American film from 1960.

At the same time that the Hendersons are struggling to survive, we see Captain Robert Adams (George Sanders) give one boneheaded instruction after another to his crew, insistent almost until the end that keeping up appearances for the ship’s wealthy patrons is more important than his passengers’ collective safety. The character is designed to be thoroughly unlikeable, but he still manages to carry with him a few ounces of sympathy because George Sanders was such a superb actor. I also greatly enjoyed Edmond O’Brien’s performance as one of the boiler room’s engineers, a man who does everything in his power to salvage the Claridon and then, when that fails, to help at the last minute with freeing Laurie Henderson from her stateroom trap. With solid writing and directing from Andrew L. Stone (Stormy Weather, Julie, The Decks Ran Red), colorful cinematography by Hal Mohr (a brief homage: his last name appears on a board with workers’ names in the boiler room) and Oscar-nominated special effects by Augie Lohman (with an uncredited Robert Bonnig), The Last Voyage deserves to be hailed as a classic of its genre.

#365 day movie challenge 2017 #the last voyage #1960 #1960s #60s #andrew l. stone #old hollywood #robert stack #dorothy malone #tammy marihugh #woody strode #george sanders #edmond o'brien #hal mohr #augie lohman #robert bonnig #disaster film #disaster films #disaster movie #disaster movies

[byneddiedingo]

Bette Davis and Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (Herman Shumlin, 1943)

Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lucile Watson, Beulah Bondi, George Coulouris, Donald Woods, Henry Daniell. Screenplay: Dashiell Hammett, based on a play by Lillian Hellman. Cinematography: Merritt B. Gerstad, Hal Mohr. Art direction: Carl Jules Weyl. Film editing: Rudi Fehr. Music: Max Steiner.

Paul Lukas has the dubious distinction of being one of those Oscar anomalies, a longtime supporting player who suddenly gets thrust into a leading role that wins him the award for best actor. His competition included Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (Sam Wood), Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (Mervyn LeRoy), and Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (Clarence Brown). Oh, and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz), the one performance that everyone remembers. Lukas had plenty of opportunities to attract attention before: He had begun acting in movies in his native Hungary in 1915, and after coming to Hollywood had appeared in numerous films, playing Professor Bhaer opposite Katharine Hepburn in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933) and the sinister Dr. Hartz in The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938), for example. He had played the role of Kurt Muller, the coordinator of resistance movements against the Nazis, in the original Broadway production of Watch on the Rhine in 1941, so he was a natural choice for the film version, though he landed the role only after the actor producer Hal Wallis wanted, Charles Boyer, was unavailable. As often happens, the Oscar was no step toward better roles in movies, and Lukas spent much of his later career on stage, though he continued to appear on film and TV up till his death in 1971. The play was written by Lillian Hellman, whose lover, Dashiell Hammett, did the screenplay with some input from her. Unfortunately, the result is less a movie than a sermon about doing one's patriotic duty in the struggle against fascism. It didn't help that Wallis hired the play's director, Herman Shumlin, for the film: Shumlin had never directed a movie and had to be assisted throughout by cinematographer Hal Mohr. He was also unable to rein in Bette Davis, who is miscast as the noble and dutiful wife and has a tendency to slip into some of her familiar and caricaturable mannerisms in the film.

#Watch on the Rhine #Herman Shumlin #Bette Davis #Paul Lukas

[loveless422]

Hal Mohr posing with the Academy Award that he won for Best Cinematography for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1934). Mohr was the first and only write-in nominee to win.

#1930s #Hal Mohr #A Midsummer Night's Dream #31DaysofOscar

[docrotten]

A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) – Episode 159 – Decades of Horror 1970s

Blood: “You know, Albert, sometimes you can be such a putz…” Vic: “A putz? What's a putz? It's somethin' bad, isn't it? You better take that back or I'm gonna kick your fuzzy butt!” Blood: “[sighs] Yep, definitely a putz.”  Putz: a stupid, foolish, or ineffectual person; (US vulgar slang) penis (Merriam-Webster). Hmm. Yep, definitely a putz. Join your faithful Grue Crew - Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr and Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff - as they relish A Boy and His Dog (1975), based on Harlan Ellison’s Nebula award-winning novella, written and directed by L.Q. Jones, starring Jason Robards and a young Don Johnson.

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 159 – A Boy and His Dog (1975)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A young man and his telepathic dog wander a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

IMDb

  Director: L.Q. Jones

Writers: L.Q. Jones (screenplay); Harlan Ellison (novella)

Cinematography: John Arthur Morrill

Selected cast:

Don Johnson as Vic

Tim McIntire (voice) as Blood

Susanne Benton as Quilla June Holmes

Jason Robards as Lou Craddock

Alvy Moore as Doctor Moore

Helene Winston as Mez Smith

Charles McGraw as Preacher

Hal Baylor as Michael

Ron Feinberg as Fellini

Michael Rupert as Gery

Be forwarned. Bill and Jeff go all fanboy over Harlan Ellison during this episode. A Boy and His Dog is Bill’s pick and he already loved Ellison’s amazing writing by the time he saw this film. He was a little disappointed at first because of the low budget, but he has grown very fond of the film, liking it more each time he sees it. He also points out the direct line from A Boy and His Dog to George Miller’s “Mad Max” movies. The smiley-faced mushroom cloud on the poster put Chad off A Boy and His Dog for a long time, but he now sees it as a pretty cool apocalyptic story that gets a little weird at times. He loves the dog and the depiction of Man falling back to baser instincts. Chad first heard of Harlan Ellison in “The Brute that Shouted Love at the Heart of the Atom,” an incredible, classic storyline in The Incredible Hulk No. 140. The violence and the post-nuclear war setting disturbed Daphne the first time she saw A Boy and His Dog, wondering how people would be affected and how they would act in that situation. This time around, she really likes it and vows to read more Ellison. At first, Jeff had a little trouble reconciling the inherent differences between print and film media but has come to love A Boy and His Dog. He sees the creation of this movie, through the coming together of L.Q. Jones and Harlan Ellison, to be an amazing and serendipitous accomplishment.

When you rewatch A Boy and His Dog, and you know you will, it is readily available. At the time of this writing, the movie can be streamed from Kanopy, Tubi w/ads, and a variety of other subscription and VOD streaming services. A Boy And His Dog (Collector's Edition) [BluRay/DVD] is also available from Shout Factory and includes a fascinating and entertaining, 50-minute one-on-one between L.Q. Jones and Harlan Ellison.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, Decades of Horror 1970s is trying something new while taking a relatively short break from producing new episodes. Instead, you, Grue-Believers, will be treated to some classic episodes of Monster Movie Podcast featuring Doc Rotten, The Black Saint, et al. Monster Movie Podcast is the original incarnation of what led to Decades of Horror podcasts.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at [email protected].

Check out this episode!

[badgaymovies]

State Fair (1933)

Today's review on MyOldAddiction.com, State Fair by #HenryKing starring #JanetGaynor and #WillRogers, "sadly has been overshadowed by the splashier remakes"

HENRY KING

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.   

USA, 1933.  Fox Film Corporation.  Screenplay by Sonya Levien, Paul Green, based on the novel by Philip Stong.  Cinematography by Hal Mohr.  Produced by Winfield R. Sheehan.  Music by Louis De Francesco.  Production Design by Duncan Cramer.  Costume Design by Rita Kaufman.  Film Editing by Robert Bischoff.  Academy Awards 1932/1933.  National Board of…

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#Academy Award 1932/1933 #Duncan Cramer #Fox Film Corporation #Frank Craven #Frank Melton #Hal Mohr #Janet Gaynor #Lew Ayres #Louis De Francesco #Louise Dresser #National Board of Review 1933 #Norman Foster #Paul Green #Philip Stong #Rita Kaufman #Robert Bischoff #Sally Eilers #Sonya Levien #Victor Jory #Will Rogers #Winfield R. Sheehan

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

original publicity still for Noahs Ark (1929), worth enlarging for the interesting details, photographed by Barney McGill and Hal Mohr. Barney was born in Salt Lake City, and had 91 cinematography credits, from 1919 to a 1941 short His other notable credits include What Price Glory (1926), Gold Diggers of Broadway, Mammy (with Al Jolsen), Svengali, Night Nurse (another honorable mention), 20000 Years in Sing Sing, Hard to Handle, The Bowery, and Folies Bergere (a third honorable mention).

#noahs ark #barney mcgill