#joseph f biroc

[screamscenepodcast]

Your hosts peek through "Illusion-O" glasses to review 13 GHOSTS (1960) from William Castle! This spoopy children's horror stars Donald Woods, Charles Herbert and Martin Milner.

Plus, what's this? A new co-host joins the show..?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 13:28; Discussion 27:33; Ranking 38:28

[claudia1829things]

"LITTLE WOMEN" (1978) Review

"LITTLE WOMEN" (1978) Review

There have been many adaptations of "Little Women", Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel. And I have seen most, if not all of the live-action versions. But the first adaptation I have ever seen was NBC's adaptation that first aired back in 1978. If I might be honest, I ended up developing a rather high opinion of it.

Since my first viewing of 1978's "LITTLE WOMEN", I have seen other adaptations. And over the years, I had developed this belief that this television production from 1978 had not been good as I had originally believed. It took many years for me to give this two-part miniseries a second chance. "LITTLE WOMEN" told the story of Josephine (Jo) March and her three sisters during the 1860s - Meg, Beth and Amy. The two-part miniseries opened during the Christmas holidays in December 1861 and follow the sisters, their other family members and friends throughout the Civil War and the early post-war years. Because Jo is the main character, despite being the second sister, this adaptation of "Little Women" has the distinction of being the only version that allows her to serve as narrator.

After my recent re-watch, I could see why my opinion of "LITTLE WOMEN" had diminished over the years . . . at least from a superficial point-of-view. To be blunt, I was not that impressed by the miniseries' production values. The entire production was shot on the Universal Studios backlot and one could sometimes see the California hills in the background. Granted, I still believe set decorator Richard G. Goddard, art director Howard E. Johnson and cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc did the best they could to recreate 1860s Concord, Massachusetts, New York City and Italy. But I did have a problem with the miniseries' costume designs. On the surface, they seemed . . . serviceable for a television production set during the 1860s. But if I must be frank, the costumes also looked as if they had been taken from a costume warehouse for second-rate stage productions. Even worse, all or most of the actresses seemed to be wearing mid-to-late 1970s shoes underneath their mid-19th century dresses and gowns. I was shocked to discover that one of Hollywood's most iconic costume designer, Edith Head, had created the miniseries' costumes. So . . . what on earth happened? Head had created the costumes? "LITTLE WOMEN" was not even Head's first or last period drama. So, what happened?

Did I have any other problems with "LITTLE WOMEN"? Well . . . I did not care for leading actress Susan Dey's hairstyle in the second part of the miniseries. I realize her character, Jo March, had cut her hair to raise funds for her mother's journey to Washington D.C. But her hair never grew back. Never. Instead, it remained shorter than it originally was and styled into a bob. Why? And I had a problem with two particular performances. I will discuss one of them later. The other involved leading lady Susan Dey serving as the miniseries' narrator. Do not get me wrong. Dey is a fine actress and did the best she could. But I found her narration a bit clunky and unnecessary, thanks to the words provided to her by screenwriter Suzanne Clauser's teleplay.

Despite my quibbles, I found a lot to admire about "LITTLE WOMEN". I believe its status as a two-part miniseries, instead of a movie, screenwriter Suzanne Clauser had plenty of opportunities to fully adapt Alcott's novel with less shortcuts and more depth. I have always believed that Alcott's novel was basically a coming-of-age story for Jo March and her three sisters. To me, this made any adaptation of "LITTLE WOMEN" a major character study. And if there is one thing that the two-part miniseries did well was explore its characters and their situations with great depth.

This especially seemed to be the case of Jo's relationship with her neighbor and friend, Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, his personal relationship with his grandfather James Laurence, Amy's European trip and her romantic travails, and Meg's relationship with Laurie's tutor John Brooke. I was especially impressed by the production's handling of Jo's relationship with Professor Friedrich Bhaer. I found it very dynamic, thanks to Suzanne Clauser's screenplay, along with the performances involved. Some, but not all of the adaptations of Alcott's novel tend to forget - at times - that part of it spanned most of the U.S. Civil War. Fortunately, this adaptation never forgot. And as much as I seemed critical of the miniseries' narration, it also reminded television audiences that . . . yes, part of "LITTLE WOMEN" was partially set during the Civil War.

Speaking of performances, "LITTLE WOMEN" had the blessed luck to feature a first-rate cast. I may not have been impressed by the narration provided by Susan Dey (for which I blame another), I was more than impressed by her portrayal of the story's leading character, Josephine "Jo" March. I though she did a superb job in capturing Jo's mercurial personality and obsession with her developing profession as a writer. Meredith Baxter gave an excellent performance as the oldest March sister, Margaret "Meg" March. She conveyed Meg's vanity and obsession with the family's social status and stubborn refusal to give up her love for John Brooke. My only issue is that I believe the actress may have been a bit too old portraying a character that aged from 16 to her early 20s. Eve Plumb portrayed the shy, yet musical Elizabeth "Beth" March. I thought she did an excellent job of combining Beth's emotional, yet retiring nature and in the end, gave a very poignant performance. Ann Dusenberry was roughly 24 to 25 years old when she portrayed the youngest March sibling, Amy. Before my recent re-watch of "LITTLE WOMEN", I had assumed she was too old to portray a younger Amy. But upon my viewing, I realized that she actually managed to give a rather convincing and skillful performance of Amy during the war years (between ages 12 and 16) without to resorting to exaggerated histrionics. And I also admired her portrayal of the older Amy who found herself drawn between two men during her European trip.

I cannot deny that most of the actors who have portrayed Theodore "Laurie"/"Teddy" Laurence over the years gave some pretty damn good performances. But I believe that Richard Gilliland's portrayal of the emotional and moody "Laurie" has to be one of the two best I have ever seen, hands down. His only equal - at least in my eyes - is Jonah Hauer King's performance in the 2017 BBC miniseries. But if I had to choose my favorite portrayal of Laurie's stern, yet warm grandfather, James Laurence, it would be the one given by Hollywood icon Robert Young in this miniseries. May I be frank? I believe both actors provided some of the production's best dramatic moments in their depiction of the developing relationship between grandson and grandfather.

Dorothy McGuire gave a fine performance as Mrs. March aka "Marmie", the four sisters' mother. Thanks to the actress' performance, her Mrs. March seemed more like a well-rounded human being, instead of an archetype. Greer Garson was in fine form as the March family's tart-tongued, yet wealthy matriarch, Aunt Josephine March. William Shatner was excellent as the German-born professor who befriended Jo in New York City, Professor Friedrich Bhaer. Although I found his German accent a bit questionable, I cannot deny that he managed to provide a great deal of energy and complexity to Friedrich's relationship with Jo. Cliff Potts gave a solid performance as Meg's love interest and Laurie's tutor, John Brooke. I can say the same about Virginia Gregg, who portrayed the family's housekeeper, Hannah Mullet. I wish I could provide a better opinion of William Schallert's portrayal of the sisters' father, John March, but his presence in the miniseries seemed very limited, aside from one scene that featured the birth of Meg's children. One performance really failed to impress me and it came from John de Lancie, who portrayed Laurie's English-born classmate from Harvard and Amy's suitor, Frank Vaughan (Fred in the novel). Quite frankly, I found his performance a bit off. Knowing de Lancie for the first-rate actor he truly is, I suspect that between Alcott and screenwriter Suzanne Clauser's writing, the character ended up as a flat, one-note plot device - a situation that not even de Lancie could rise above.

Yes, I had some issues with "LITTLE WOMEN". I found some of the production values questionable, especially some of Edith Head's costumes, the hairstyles and one particular character. But overall, I believe it proved to be a first-rate adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel. If I must be frank, thanks to David Lowell Rich's direction, Suzanne Clauser's screenplay and a superb cast led by Susan Dey, I consider the 1978 adaptation of Alcott's novel to be among the three best I have ever seen.

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Down Three Dark Streets

According to Eddie Muller, and why would anybody doubt him, Arnold Laven’s DOWN THREE DARK STREETS (1954, TCM, because where else would I have heard him talk about it) was the first police film to pursue multiple plots, thus paving the way for such TV series as HILL STREET BLUES and NYPD BLUE. Broderick Crawford is an FBI boss in Los Angeles who inherits three cases from an agent who was shot down while investigating one of them. But which one? Is it the bogus car theft charge against an innocent man who refuses to clear himself because the criminals threatened his blind wife (Marisa Pavan)? The escaped killer whose girlfriend (Martha Hyer) lives in L.A.? Or the widow (Ruth Roman) being extorted with threats to kill her daughter? It all moves pretty quickly and has great atmospheric cinematography by Joseph F.  Biroc, including a well-done walk through a cemetery late at night, a shootout in an abandoned stable and a fight at the foot of the Hollywood sign.  Screenwriters Gordon and Mildred Gordon and Bernard C. Schonefeld have included some fun side characters like a restaurant cook who hopes finding a dead body will make him famous and a man who’s invented a spy-detecting radar gun that’s fingered his brother-in-law. Crawford is solid and specific as John Ripley, The Gordons’ recurring FBI agent, who also turns up played by Glenn Ford in EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962). The three women are a study in different acting styles. Pavan is natural as the blind woman who initially seems fragile but later displays a surprising level of cunning. Hyer seems to have been forced to do a Marilyn Monroe imitation but manages to turn it into a character, particularly when she talks about the impoverished childhood that led her to gladly accept a criminal’s expensive gifts. Roman has some effective moments, particularly dealing with her child and flirting with Crawford, but at times she seems to be substituting heavy breathing for acting. The cast also includes Kenneth Tobey, Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams), Claude Akins, Stafford Repp and William Schallert.

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Movie**

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Director: Frank Capra Cinematographers: Joseph F. Biroc, Joseph Walker, Victor Milner (uncredited)

[stillsmybeatingheart]

[bigspoopygurl]

Viva Las Vegas (1964)

“It should be obvious that I'm completely indifferent to anything this boy might give me... it's a tree!”

Director: George Sidney

Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc

[tvln]

the killing of sister george (us, aldrich 67)

[cinemagal]

And the Academy Award for Best Cinematography goes to - 1970 - Freddie Young - Ryan’s Daughter 1971 - Oswald Morris - Fiddler on The Roof 1972 - Geoffrey Unsworth - Cabaret 1973 - Sven Nykvist - Cries And Whispers 1974 - Fred J. Koenekamp & Joseph F. Biroc - The Towering Inferno 1975 - John Alcott - Barry Lyndon 1976 - Haskell Wexler - Bound For Glory 1977 - Vilmos Zsigmond - Close Encounters of The Third Kind 1978 - Néstor Almendros - Days of Heaven 1979 - Vittorio Storaro - Apocalype Now

[auteurstearoom]

On the set of Shall We Dance:  Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, [Unknown], Director Mark Sandrich, Cinematographer David Abel, Camera Assistant Willard Barth and Camera Operator Joseph F. Biroc.

[filmnoirfoundation]

NOIR CITY 19 continues today at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre with two double features, THE ACCUSED (1:00) & THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (3:00) and NO WAY OUT (7:00) & THE SNIPER (9:30). Films introduced by FNF prez Eddie Muller. Full festival schedule and tickets available at NoirCity.com

Saturday Matinée • March 26

THE ACCUSED 1:00 PM

Demure college professor Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young) finds herself in jeopardy after killing an overly amorous student in self-defense. As the noose tightens around her, both the victim's guardian (Robert Cummings) and a dogged homicide detective (Wendell Corey) pursue her. Apparently, being a suspected killer makes Wilma irresistible to men. June Truesdell's 1947 novel Be Still, My Love, adapted by Ketti Frings, puts a decidedly feminine slant on a classic noir premise. It's also the rare noir where both the source novel and the screenplay are the work of women. Frings had a résumé similar to many male colleagues in Hollywood—she'd worked as a newspaper correspondent, ad writer, and PR agent before scoring with her first novel, Hold Back the Dawn, adapted to film in 1941 by Billy Wilder. The Accused is a prescient psychological thriller that presaged "Me Too" by many decades.

1949, Paramount [Library of Congress]. 101 minutes. Screenplay by Ketti Frings, from the novel Be Still, My Love by June Truesdell. Produced by Hal Wallis. Directed by William Dieterle.

THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK 3:00 PM

Petty crook Matt Krane (Charles Korvin) returns to New York City from Cuba, using his girlfriend Sheila (Evelyn Keyes) as a mule to smuggle $40,000 worth of diamonds. What he doesn't realize is that Sheila is carrying something more dangerous — smallpox. What Sheila doesn't realize is that Matt plans on double-crossing her, running away with her sister Francie and the jewels. Sheila must elude the police to exact revenge on the two-timing louse, but with every step she threatens to unleash an epidemic that could infect 8,000,000 people. This fictionalized version of a true story was until recently an antiquated curio, a campy time capsule of an earlier era. Well, nobody's laughing now. Part suspenseful crime thriller, part Public Service Announcement, The Killer That Stalked New York, beautifully filmed by the great Joseph Biroc, recalls a bygone America, one where citizens trusted each other, the government, and miracles of modern science.

1950, Columbia Pictures [Sony Pictures Classics]. 79 minutes. Screenplay by Harry Essex, from a Cosmopolitan magazine article by Milton Lehman. Produced by Robert Cohn. Directed by Earl McEvoy.

Saturday Evening • March 26

NO WAY OUT 7:00 PM

Ray and Johnny Biddle, low-life criminals, are wounded trying to rob a gas station. Rushed to the county hospital, they are treated by an African American resident, Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier, in his screen debut). Ray, a virulent racist (Richard Widmark, at his most incendiary), refuses to be treated by a black man, and accuses Dr. Brooks of murder when his brother dies. The incident touches off a firestorm that threatens to erupt into an all-out race war. In the middle is Johnny's ex-wife Edie (Linda Darnell), stuck between the ingrained racism of her "Beaver Canal" neighborhood and a growing awareness of a world beyond its confines. Widmark and Poitier give riveting performances, and Darnell quietly steals the show as a woman trying to escape her ignorant upbringing. The Oscar®-nominated screenplay pulls no punches in its squirm-inducing depiction of deep-rooted racism. Brace yourself for a powerful film that, sadly, is as relevant today as the day it was released.

1950, 20th Century–Fox. 106 minutes; Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels . Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

THE SNIPER 9:30 PM

San Francisco is the backdrop for one of the first movies about a modern serial killer. Decades before such stories became commonplace, husband and wife writers Edward and Edna Anhault researched dozens of actual cases to create this psychological "exposé " of a murderous misfit who wants to be caught but finds it too easy to slip into the margins of a "bustling" post-WWII metropolis. Arthur Franz gives an edgy and empathetic performance as the psychically scarred sniper, whose murderous trail leads viewers on a fascinating tour of midcentury San Francisco — from Pacific Heights through the back alleys of North Beach to once-industrial China Basin. Burnett Guffey's camerawork, moving between shadowy '40s noir and '50s docu-realism, enhances Edward Dmytryk's crisp and compelling direction.

1952, Columbia Pictures [Sony Pictures Classics]. 88 minutes. Screenplay by Harry Brown, from a story by Edward and Edna Anhalt. Produced by Stanley Kramer. Directed by Edward Dmytryk

[ultrafabius]

Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) by Robert Aldrich

3 / 5

1 2 4 5

[burgerfiction]

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927/28) - Charles Rosher & Karl Struss

White Shadows In The South Seas (1928/29) - Clyde De Vinna

With Byrd At The South Pole (1929/30) - Joseph T. Rucker & Willard Van der Veer

Tabu: A Story Of The South Seas (1930/31) - Floyd Crosby

Shanghai Express (1931/32) - Lee Garmes

A Farewell To Arms (1932/33) - Charles Lang

Cleopatra (1934) - Victor Milner

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) - Hal Mohr

Anthony Adverse (1936 B&W) - Tony Gaudio

The Garden Of Allah (1936 COLOR) - W. Howard Greene & Harold Rosson

The Good Earth (1937 B&W) - Karl Freund

A Star Is Born (1937 COLOR) - W. Howard Greene

The Great Waltz (1938 B&W) - Joseph Ruttenberg

Sweethearts (1938 COLOR) - Oliver T. Marsh & Allen Davey

Wuthering Heights (1939 B&W) - Gregg Toland

Gone With The Wind (1939 COLOR) - Ernest Haller & Ray Rennahan

Rebecca (1940 B&W) - George Barnes

The Thief Of Bagdad (1940 COLOR) - Georges Perinal

How Green Was My Valley (1941 B&W) - Arthur C. Miller

Blood And Sand (1941 COLOR) - Ernest Palmer & Ray Rennahan

Mrs. Miniver (1942 B&W) - Joseph Ruttenberg

The Black Swan (1942 COLOR) - Leon Shamroy

The Song Of Bernadette (1943 B&W) - Arthur C. Miller

Phantom Of The Opera (1943 COLOR) - Hal Mohr & W. Howard Greene

Laura (1944 B&W) - Joseph LaShelle

Wilson (1944 COLOR) - Leon Shamroy

The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945 B&W) - Harry Stradling

Leave Her To Heaven (1945 COLOR) - Leon Shamroy

Anna And The King Of Siam (1945 B&W) - Arthur C. Miller

The Yearling (1946 COLOR) - Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith & Arthur E. Arling

Great Expectations (1947 B&W) - Guy Green

Black Narcissus (1947 COLOR) - Jack Cardiff

The Naked City (1948 B&W) - William H. Daniels

Joan Of Arc (1948 COLOR) - Joseph A. Valentine, William V. Skall & Winton Hoch

Battleground (1949 B&W) - Paul C. Vogel

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949 COLOR) - Winton Hoch

The Third Man (1950 B&W) - Robert Krasker

King Solomon’s Mines (1950 COLOR) - Robert Surtees

A Place In The Sun (1951 B&W) - William C. Mellor

An American In Paris (1951 COLOR) - Alfred Gilks & John Alton

The Bad And The Beautiful (1952 B&W) - Robert Surtees

The Quiet Man (1952 COLOR) - Winton Hoch & Archie Stout

From Here To Eternity (1953 B&W) - Burnett Guffey

Shane (1953 COLOR) - Loyal Griggs

On The Waterfront (1954 B&W) - Boris Kaufman

Three Coins In The Fountain (1954 COLOR) - Milton R. Krasner

The Rose Tattoo (1955 B&W) - James Wong Howe

To Catch A Thief (1955 COLOR) - Robert Burks

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956 B&W) - Joseph Ruttenberg

Around The World In 80 Days (1956 COLOR) - Lionel Lindon

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) - Jack Hildyard

The Defiant Ones (1958 B&W) - Sam Leavitt

Gigi (1958 COLOR) - Joseph Ruttenberg

The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959 B&W) - William C. Mellor

Ben-Hur (1959 COLOR) - Robert Surtees

Sons And Lovers (1960 B&W) - Freddie Francis

Spartacus (1960 COLOR) - Russel Metty

The Hustler (1961 B&W) - Eugen Schufftan

West Side Story (1961 COLOR) - Daniel L. Fapp

The Longest Day (1962 B&W) - Jean Bourgoin & Walter Wottitz

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962 COLOR) - Freddie Young

Hud (1963 B&W) - James Wong Howe

Cleopatra (1963 COLOR) - Leon Shamroy

Zorba The Greek (1964 B&W) - Walter Lassally

My Fair Lady (1964 COLOR) - Harry Stradling

Ship Of Fools (1965 B&W) - Ernest Laszlo

Doctor Zhivago (1965 COLOR) - Freddie Young

Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966 B&W) - Haskell Wexler

A Man For All Seasons (1966 COLOR) - Ted Moore

Bonnie And Clyde (1967) - Burnett Guffey

Romeo And Juliet (1968) - Pasqualino De Santis

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) - Conrad L. Hall

Ryan’s Daughter (1970) - Freddie Young

Fiddler On The Roof (1971) - Oswald Morris

Cabaret (1972) - Geoffrey Unsworth

Cries And Whispers (1973) - Sven Nykvist

The Towering Inferno (1974) - Fred J. Koenekamp & Joseph F. Biroc

Barry Lyndon (1975) - John Alcott

Bound For Glory (1976) - Haskell Wexler

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) - Vilmos Zsigmond

Days Of Heaven (1978) - Nestor Almendros

Apocalypse Now (1979) - Vittorio Storaro

Tess (1980) - Geoffrey Unsworth & Ghislain Cloquet

Reds (1981) - Vittorio Storaro

Gandhi (1982) - Billy Williams & Ronnie Taylor

Fanny And Alexander (1983) - Sven Nykvist

The Killing Fields (1984) - Chris Menges

Out Of Africa (1985) - David Watkin

The Mission (1986) - Chris Menges

The Last Emperor (1987) - Vittorio Storaro

Mississippi Burning (1988) - Peter Biziou

Glory (1989) - Freddie Francis

Dances With Wolves (1990) - Dean Semler

JFK (1991) - Robert Richardson

A River Runs Through It (1992) - Philippe Rousselot

Schindler’s List (1993) - Janusz Kaminski

Legends Of The Fall (1994) - John Toll

Braveheart (1995) - John Toll

The English Patient (1996) - John Seale

Titanic (1997) - Russell Carpenter

Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Janusz Kaminski

American Beauty (1999) - Conrad L. Hall

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - Peter Pau

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) - Andrew Lesnie

Road To Perdition (2002) - Conrad L. Hall

Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) - Russell Boyd

The Aviator (2004) - Robert Richardson

Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005) - Dion Beebe

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) - Guillermo Navarro

There Will Be Blood (2007) - Robert Elswit

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Anthony Dod Mantle

Avatar (2009) - Mauro Fiore

Inception (2010) - Wally Pfister

Hugo (2011) - Robert Richardson

Life Of Pi (2012) - Claudio Miranda

Gravity (2013) - Emmanuel Lubezki

Birdman (2014) - Emmanuel Lubezki

The Revenant (2015) - Emmanuel Lubezki

La La Land (2016) - Linus Sandgren

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Roger Deakins

[stillsmybeatingheart]

[bigspoopygurl]

Airplane (1980)

“Joey, have you ever been in a... in a Turkish prison?”

Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc

[tvln]

all the marbles (us, aldrich 81)

[alinebelfort]

It’s a wonderful life (1946) Dir: Frank Capra DoP: Joseph F. Biroc Joseph Walker