The Boy from the Black Sea
June 25, 2017 12:09 PM Subscribe
'Shadows: The Val Lewton Story' - part one of a series in which the The Secret History of Hollywood podcasts tells the story of film producer and screenplay writer Val Lewton, with prologues by Mark Gatiss.
Thank you for this, and for letting me know about this podcast, which I'd completely missed. I've been interested in Lewton for ~20 years, and and am happy to read or listen to anything about him or the people he collaborated with.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:52 PM on June 25, 2017
posted by ryanshepard at 12:52 PM on June 25, 2017
Also, for anyone interested in intelligent, genuinely unsettling horror: if you aren't familiar with Lewton's movies, you need to see them - they will get under your skin, reward rewatching, and wear their deep understanding of psychology and marrow-level human fears lightly.
Two years ago, I went on a tour of a cemetery on a very hot day. After staggering around under the July sun, we were let into a mausoleum, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I got goosebumps from the clammy air, I thought, "this is exactly what a Val Lewton movie feels like".
posted by ryanshepard at 1:05 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Two years ago, I went on a tour of a cemetery on a very hot day. After staggering around under the July sun, we were let into a mausoleum, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I got goosebumps from the clammy air, I thought, "this is exactly what a Val Lewton movie feels like".
posted by ryanshepard at 1:05 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Such a filmmaker of the weird.
Thank you for the pointer, Artw.
posted by doctornemo at 2:53 PM on June 25, 2017
Thank you for the pointer, Artw.
posted by doctornemo at 2:53 PM on June 25, 2017
If you're interested in Nazimova and haven't seen her version of Salome, you really should. (I mean assuming silent films aren't a completely no for you. There's even a youtube version with Portishead as a soundtrack, if that might make it more attractive.) Salone wasn't directed by Nazimova, but it really was her baby, so it gives some indication of her aesthetic and more avant garde values.
Lewton's films with Wise and Robson are really good, but his three movies with Tourneur are sublime. I absolutely consider I Walked With a Zombie, The Leopard Man, and Cat People to be as good as any films that have come out of Hollywood. I mean there are other movies that are their equals, but I've seen none that clearly surpass them. There is so much more to them than is even apparent on the surface, with care being given to almost every detail of the mise-en-scene and choices around editing and overall construction. As much as those films are generally celebrated as good, I think they're still undervalued as somehow good despite themselves rather than always looked at as simply great movies.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:09 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Lewton's films with Wise and Robson are really good, but his three movies with Tourneur are sublime. I absolutely consider I Walked With a Zombie, The Leopard Man, and Cat People to be as good as any films that have come out of Hollywood. I mean there are other movies that are their equals, but I've seen none that clearly surpass them. There is so much more to them than is even apparent on the surface, with care being given to almost every detail of the mise-en-scene and choices around editing and overall construction. As much as those films are generally celebrated as good, I think they're still undervalued as somehow good despite themselves rather than always looked at as simply great movies.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:09 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
So it does improve after the first episode? I was bored to tears and couldn't finish it. Also, bless the narrator, but I don't think a paterfamilias from the Hudson Valley talks like Foghorn Leghorn.
posted by orrnyereg at 6:32 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by orrnyereg at 6:32 AM on June 26, 2017
If you don't like the style of it then I suspect you won't like the style of it.
posted by Artw at 10:02 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by Artw at 10:02 AM on June 26, 2017
Oh, thank you for this. I have loved Lewton ever since I scored the box set of DVDs for a ridiculously cheap price when the Tower Records in NYC was closing down.
posted by old_growler at 10:04 PM on June 26, 2017
posted by old_growler at 10:04 PM on June 26, 2017
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posted by Artw at 12:28 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]