#Esther Minciotti

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Marty (Delbert Mann, 1955)    

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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.

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The Wrong Man (1956) Alfred Hitchcock

January 4th 2023

[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.

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Marty. Dir. Delbert Mann. 1955.

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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)

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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)

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Full of Life (1956) Richard Quine

April 9th 2022

[frankenpagie]

3.8.20

[byneddiedingo]

Vera Miles, Henry Fonda, and Anthony Quayle in The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) Cast: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Charles Cooper, John Heldabrand, Esther Minciotti. Screenplay: Maxwell Anderson, Angus MacPhail. Cinematography: Robert Burks. Art direction: Paul Sylbert. Film editing: George Tomasini. Music: Bernard Herrmann. Alfred Hitchcock's docudrama The Wrong Man is not so anomalous in his career as his rather portentous introduction suggests: It may be based on an incident about a real Manny Balestrero, but there are lots of wrongly accused men in his movies, and this time he simply landed on one who happened to be an actual person. And Hitchcock's gravitation to the theme of undeserved punishment and consequent mental anguish (in this case Rose Balestrero's) was something we could expect from him if we knew of the trauma caused by the notorious childhood incident in which his domineering father had the local constabulary lock young Alfred in a jail cell for five minutes. The lesson learned was less "be a good boy" than "fear the cops," who loom large in many of his films. But the real novelty of The Wrong Man is its tone: There's virtually no leavening of gloom in the film by the usual Hitchcockian humor. Only at the very ending, when we are assured that Manny and Rose and the kids moved to Florida and lived happily ever after, is there any attempt to mitigate the rather oppressive quality of the black-and-white, location-shot tale of the struggling Balestreros. And anyone who knows much about the difficulty of "curing" depression, which Rose suffers from, is likely to feel a little skeptical about that. That said, it's a very good film, making especially fine use of Henry Fonda -- his only appearance for Hitchcock -- whose naturally haunted look is a perfect fit for the victimized Balestrero. Vera Miles, whom Hitchcock was grooming as a replacement for Grace Kelly after her recent elevation to Princess of Monaco, gives a convincing performance as Rose, managing to suggest that her depression was in the cards even before Manny's arrest. The realism of the Balestreros' financial struggle is also well-handled, as is the climactic revelation of the "right" man, accomplished by a double exposure in which he walks into and fills the image of Balestrero in closeup. For me, the other only false note besides the oversimplified happy ending is the invocation of religion as a cure to Manny's dilemma: Mama Balestrero's (Esther Minciotti) urging him to pray for strength and his gaze at a rather kitsch picture of Jesus is too swiftly followed by his deliverance. It turns a serious emotional and spiritual struggle into a cliché as old as the movies. The Wrong Man has been favorably compared to Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped (1956), a distinction I don't think it quite merits, but then what film does?