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...but things are more prosaic.

As you probably recall, in the Razor's Edge movie (some I suspect may even have read the book) the whole hoopla happened because the self-sacrificing girl didn't want to live on $3000 per year. So I got curious.

I also went back to the remake and one obvious thing struck me - I guess the purpose of the remake was to simply "discover" some foul language. Educational purpose, shall we say...

Now, I shall admit: I am a great sucker for beautifully spoken English - perhaps because we all long for something that we shall never behold. I enjoy every second of My Fair Lady in large part because of the Higgins' locution and his way with the language - rather masterful and sharp like the blade on my French Empire small court sword (sorry, had to do this plug, my wife just brought me a present from Paris and I keep it on my desk).

What the remake did, was to "surgically" (read "butcher-like") replace certain parts of the original Moem's language, yes, you've guessed it, masterful and sharp, with modern-age street speech pattern. Maybe we should be grateful they didn't reach for some Ebonics.

The famous Teresa Russel's (and she is simply the best of mostly inept bunch in the new one) phrase: "You sacrificed yourself for mink fucking coat" sounds much more benign in the original version. There Mr. Moem says: "You sacrificed yourself for square-cut diamond and SABLE coat". Is it not a bit patronizing to think that the American public has no notion of sable any longer? If things continue their slide down that slope, in some near future we will have to use something like a bucket of popcorn in place of whatever fine.

Listening to Cliffton Webb was a real pleasure. Snobbish aristocrat, sure, kick him for that, but no shit, fuck or asshole from that character. Guess what - somehow he managed to get his feelings across. And quite strongly I must say.

Now we need to go back and see again the Sitting Pretty with him - I remember how I loved it some thirty years ago.

So, how was dacha? Some potato digging this time of the year? Malakhovka?

As fas as antique gans go, I asked my friends in Moscow to look for some SVT-40 magazines - they are impossible to find here. You wouldn't have some in your basement, would you?


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