#Esther Minciotti

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Shockproof

The combination of two filmmakers as distinctive as Samuel Fuller and Douglas Sirk would have made for a much better film than SHOCKPROOF (1949, TCM, YouTube) had Columbia Pictures not softened most of the rough edges of Fuller’s script. He wrote about a parole officer (Cornel Wilde) who becomes obsessed with a murderess (Patricia Knight, aka Mrs. Wilde) under his supervision. He tries to keep her from the gambler boyfriend (John Baragrey) for whom she had killed, gets her a job caring for his blind mother (Esther Minciotti) and, when she shoots a man to protect him, goes on the lam with her., The film still has a strong sense of the forces that drive Wilde from the straight and narrow and a wonderful bit of irony at the end that I can’t reveal. But it also has a hokey ending forced on Sirk and Fuller by the studio. Sirk hated it so much he left Columbia and briefly returned to Germany.

Sirk’s influence can be seen in an opening sequence that introduces Knight by following her picture hat as she adopts a new look and goes for her first check-in with Wilde (in one L.A.’s best. locations, The Bradbury Building). He also makes Wilde’s family home another character in the film (as he did with the family homes in ALL I DESIRE, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW and WRITTEN ON THE WIND). He tends to favor the story’s women, getting strong performances from Knight (she gives good regret), Minciotti, Ann Shoemaker as a police psychiatrist and Claire Clarkson as Knight and Wilde’s neighbor.

[moviemosaics]

Marty

directed by Delbert Mann, 1955

[byneddiedingo]

Betsy Blair and Ernest Borgnine in Marty (Delbert Mann, 1955)

Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, Karen Steele, Jerry Paris, Frank Sutton. Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky. Cinematography: Joseph LaShelle. Art direction: Ted Haworth, Walter M. Simonds. Music: Roy Webb.  

That Marty is such an engaging little movie is largely because Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair have such remarkable low-key chemistry together and Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay brings them together convincingly and keeps them apart smartly. Chayefsky does overdo the "what do you wanna do tonight" shtick, which kept contemporary comedians busy far too long, and the self-pitying Italian mama stereotypes of Marty's mother, Mrs. Piletti (Esther Minciotti), and Aunt Catherine (Augusta Ciolli), but it's on the whole a well-made script. Some credit is obviously due to the director, Delbert Mann, who also directed Chayefsky's 1953 teleplay on which the movie is based. It was his big-screen debut and won him an Oscar, but he never followed up with another comparable film -- his best later work was probably on two Doris Day comedies, Lover Come Back (1961) and That Touch of Mink (1962). Oscars also went to Borgnine, Chayefsky, and the film itself, and nominations to Blair, Joe Mantell as Marty's pal Angie, Joseph LaShelle's wonderfully atmospheric cinematography, and to the art directors. In fact, if Marty has any lasting claim to fame other than being a satisfying romantic drama, it's in the Academy's uncharacteristic recognition of a "little" film -- especially noticeable in the mid-50s when the prevailing Hollywood trend was to "give 'em something they can't get on television." Since they had already gotten Marty on TV two years earlier, the Oscar attention was especially surprising. It didn't signal any sort of trend, however: The following year, the best picture winner was Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Anderson), a typically bloated extravaganza loaded with movie-star cameos, and for the first time, all of the best picture nominees for 1956 were filmed in color. It was as if the Academy had said, "Fine, we did our duty, now let's get back to business."

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highlights of February

1. Favourite movies: House of Strangers (1949), The Changeling (1980). 2. Decent movies I liked / appreciated but not loved: The Night Stalker (1972), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023). 3. wtf movie/ending: Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). Just an overall impression. Literally WTF. 4. Best scenes: the alleyway break-up / 'She left me two hours ago' (House of Strangers, 1949); confronting the senator (The Changeling, 1980); Those You've Known / The Dark I Know Well (Spring Awakening, 2022). 5. Favourite genres: drama, fantasy, mystery. 6. Favourite directors: Peter Medak (The Changeling, 1980). I also like  John Llewellyn Moxey for The Night Stalker (1972) (surprisingly), Joseph L. Mankiewicz for House of Strangers (1949) and  Daniel Kwan + Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). 7. Favourite actors: George C. Scott (The Changeling, 1980); Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte (House of Strangers, 1949); Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022); 8. Least favourite performances: anybody in Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). I reiterate, what the fuck? 9. The most wasted cast: Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). They brought almost everyone back and made this abomination? How was this even allowed to happen? Let's count. Tyler Posey, Crystal, Holland Roden, Shelley Hennig, JR Bourne, Ian Bohen, Colton Haynes, Linden Ashby, Melissa Ponzio, Ryan Kelley, Seth Gilliam, Orny Adams, Dylan Sprayberry, Khylin Rhambo, Tyler Hoechlin. There are so many just baffling choices as well. Bringing back Stiles' dad without Stiles and their dynamic. Bringing back the Nogitsune without Stiles, Kira or her family. Bringing back Liam and Mason, but not having them interact at all. Revivng Alison (a wtf moment in itself) and not having her reunite with Lydia. Breaking up Stiles and Lydia off-screen for the dumbest of reaons. Not having Scott and Liam exchange a single line. Getting Alison and Scott back together. Everything to do with Derek (not having him interact with either Peter or Malia (who themselves don't interact at all), introducing his son whose existance doesn't even make sense, killing him off). I could go on and on. This film is an insult and a nightmare. Moving on. 10. The best wasted premise: Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). The idea of bringing back this show for one last adventure is cool, but you need to have, you know, a script before you do that. 11. Best premise: Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1952). 12. Favourite cast: House of Strangers (1949). Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Luther Adler, Paul Valentine, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Esther Minciotti. 13. Favourite on-screen duos:  George C. Scott x Melvyn Douglas (The Changeling, 1980);  Jonathan Groff x Lea Michele (Spring Awakening, 2022);  Edward G. Robinson x Richard Conte; Susan Hayward x Richard Conte (House of Strangers, 1949);  Michelle Yeoh, x Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022). 14. Favourite on-screen relationships: Max Monetti x Irene Bennett (House of Strangers, 1949). She gives as good as she gets. 15. Favourite characters: Max Monetti (House of Strangers, 1949); John Russell (The Changeling, 1980); Waymond Wang (Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022). 15. Favourite quote: Can't remember anything... 16. Favourite fact discovered in 2023: Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele are best friends in real life and he supported her when she went back to Broadway to play the lead in Funny Girl. 17. The most overrated film: I kind of think that  Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) is a tad overrated. I like it, just not nearly as much as everyone else seems to. 18. The most disappointing film: Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). 19. The biggest surprise: The Changeling (1980). 20. Best cinematography: John Coquillon (The Changeling, 1980). 21. Best set design: Keith Pepper (The Changeling, 1980). 22. Best costume design: Shirley Kurata (Everything, Everywhere All at Once, 2022). 23. Best music: The Changeling (1980). 24. Best prooduction choice: casting Richard Conte to be a tough, but ultimately good guy. He's great at playing villains, but his overwhelming charisma makes for pretty interesting good guys as well. 25. Worst production choice: releasing Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023). Absolute atrocity this film is. 26. Film of the month: The Changeling (1980) with House of Strangers (1949) a close second.

[digitised-celluloid]

Marty. Dir. Delbert Mann. 1955.

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The Wrong Man (1956) Alfred Hitchcock

January 4th 2023

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[mariocki]

The Undercover Man (1949)

"The government doesn't want to do anything to me - they want to do things for me. Remember the Zanger deal?"

"Yeah, I remember Zanger."

"Ten percent of three million bucks."

"Ten percent of a bullet in the head."

[audiemurphy1945]

The Wrong Man(1956)

[ozu-teapot]

The Undercover Man | Joseph H. Lewis | 1949

Glenn Ford, Joan Lazer, Esther Minciotti, Angela Clarke

[kwebtv]

From the Golden Age of Television

Marty    -   NBC   -   May 25, 1953

Drama

A Presentation of Goodyear Television Playhouse

Running Time;  60 minutes

Stars:

Rod Steiger as Marty Pilletti

Nancy Marchand as Clara

Esther Minciotti as as Mrs. Pilletti  

Augusta Ciolli as Aunt Catherine

Joe Mantell as Angie

Betsy Palmer as Virginia 

Lee Philips as Tommy

Rosanna San Marco as Woman

Howard Caine as Bartender

Nehemiah Persoff as Critic

Don Gordon as Young Man

Andrew Gerardo as Patsy

George Maharis as Dancer at the Dance Club

Only Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli and Joe Mantell repeated their 1953 TV drama roles in the 1955 film adaptation.

[genevieveetguy]

An innocent man has nothing to fear, remember that.

The Wrong Man, Alfred Hitchcock (1956)

[frankenpagie]

3.8.20

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2019) - #147: House of Strangers (1949) - dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Sandwiched between the back-to-back Oscar-winning films A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950) by writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz and mistakenly labeled as a noir by some viewers, Twentieth Century Fox’s House of Strangers is a tepid drama that wastes most of its talented actors.

Adapted by Philip Yordan (with uncredited assistance by Mankiewicz) from Jerome Weidman’s novel and told largely in flashback, the story covers the epic saga of Italian-American banker Gino Monetti (Edward G. Robinson) and his sons Max (Richard Conte), Joe (Luther Adler), Pietro (Paul Valentine) and Tony (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). The Monetti family enterprise caters to immigrants like Gino, who touts himself as a generous businessman but doesn’t mind cutting corners - giving out loans that don’t add up, not making a record of every transaction - whenever it’s possible. When Gino is arrested for his illegal practices, three of his sons abandon him. Only Max, a lawyer shows, loyalty toward his father by defending his case in court. Max ends up taking the fall, accepting the prison sentence in Gino’s place, and when the younger Monetti is eventually released seven years later, retribution against his brothers is foremost on his mind.

I probably made House of Strangers sound really exciting, but I assure you, it’s not. A considerable amount of the narrative is spent on a stale romance between Max and a high-class woman named Irene Bennett (Susan Hayward), boomeranging their way through a hot-and-cold relationship that makes no sense. They’re drawn to one another, but they hate each other’s guts, but then they want to try again. Rinse and repeat. I liked seeing Esther Minciotti, best remembered as Ernest Borgnine’s opinionated mother in Marty, as the dignified matriarch of the Monetti clan, and it’s also a treat to see Hope Emerson in perhaps her most glamorous role ever as the mother of Max’s fiancée (a teenage Debra Paget). Arguably the most noteworthy appearance in the film is by Dolores Parker, a well-regarded big band vocalist who had a fascinating life and passed away last December at age 99. Altogether, however, Mankiewicz’s film is a missed opportunity that squanders its cast on a mishmash of half-baked ideas.

[digitised-celluloid]

Marty. Dir. Delbert Mann. 1955.

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Full of Life (1956) Richard Quine

April 9th 2022