"You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent."
(God do I love that line.)
Aaah I get so excited when I finally get to watch one of the great actors in action for the first time, and I realize that every word I've read, all the praise I've heard, was spot on. Sure, sometimes I get so disappointed I spend the rest of the evening wondering what on earth people see that I don't - but when everything's just right, it's so right.
Tonight's revelation: George Sanders. Who doesn't have a major part in All About Eve, but I was grinning at the screen every time he walked in.
I was so puzzled reading about glamorous leading ladies preparing to leave their husbands for him, or women going to the movies to sigh dreamily at the screen, because looking at pictures of him my immediate reaction was "What, him?" Of all the delicious mancandy to come out of Hollywood in that era, you pick the tall pudgy guy with the thinning hair?
But now. Oh man do I see it. He's a delight on screen. And the voice. That low, low purr with the impeccable upper-class accent. How can you not respond to that? And the delivery. How someone can come across as so sophisticated and lascivious at the same time is a mystery. "Cad" doesn't even begin to describe it.
I definitely need to watch more. Thankfully the author of my favourite film blog is a huge Sanders fan, so I know where to go for suggestions.
ETA: WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. He's LORD HENRY opposite ANGELA LANSBURY AS SYBIL in The Picture of Dorian Gray?! JESUS I DON'T NEED TO HEAR SUCH EXCITING THINGS WHEN IT'S ALREADY PAST MY BEDTIME.
Aaah I get so excited when I finally get to watch one of the great actors in action for the first time, and I realize that every word I've read, all the praise I've heard, was spot on. Sure, sometimes I get so disappointed I spend the rest of the evening wondering what on earth people see that I don't - but when everything's just right, it's so right.
Tonight's revelation: George Sanders. Who doesn't have a major part in All About Eve, but I was grinning at the screen every time he walked in.
I was so puzzled reading about glamorous leading ladies preparing to leave their husbands for him, or women going to the movies to sigh dreamily at the screen, because looking at pictures of him my immediate reaction was "What, him?" Of all the delicious mancandy to come out of Hollywood in that era, you pick the tall pudgy guy with the thinning hair?
But now. Oh man do I see it. He's a delight on screen. And the voice. That low, low purr with the impeccable upper-class accent. How can you not respond to that? And the delivery. How someone can come across as so sophisticated and lascivious at the same time is a mystery. "Cad" doesn't even begin to describe it.
I definitely need to watch more. Thankfully the author of my favourite film blog is a huge Sanders fan, so I know where to go for suggestions.
ETA: WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. He's LORD HENRY opposite ANGELA LANSBURY AS SYBIL in The Picture of Dorian Gray?! JESUS I DON'T NEED TO HEAR SUCH EXCITING THINGS WHEN IT'S ALREADY PAST MY BEDTIME.