amedia: Close up on young man looking at the camera (Kookie from 77 Sunset Strip). Caption: wanna play ... boy detective? (kookie)
[personal profile] amedia
When TODS re-organized our DVDs we ran across several that we had gotten and then never watched, or started and never finished. One of these was a fun double-movie set with shorts, cartoons, etc., so that it was like an old-fashioned double feature. We watched The Woman in Green, an old Sherlock Holmes movie with Basil Rathbone (or, as my mother calls him, Razzle-Dazzle Bathbone) and Nigel Bruce. I enjoy Rathbone as Holmes, but Bruce is written and directed to play Watson as something of a dim-witted buffoon, which I don't like. TODS and I both wondered how on earth we were supposed to be able to tell that the woman was wearing green, given that the entire movie was in black and white. (It's never mentioned in the dialogue.) Afterwards we watched a set of bloopers from various Warner Bros. productions of 1938, occasionally spotting famous people like Claudette Colbert, Humphrey Bogart, and Ronald Reagan.

Date: 2009-05-31 02:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lionille.livejournal.com
The Woman in Green

TODS and I both wondered how on earth we were supposed to be able to tell that the woman was wearing green, given that the entire movie was in black and white.

Ahahaha! You would think it would be a bit of a plot point, wouldn't you?

Date: 2009-05-31 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amedia.livejournal.com
*throws confetti of icon appropriateness*

Date: 2009-05-31 07:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whswhs.livejournal.com
I never liked the portrayal of Watson as a bumbling idiot. It struck me as clear that Watson was a bit brighter than average; it's just that next to Holmes, he naturally didn't look like much. It's no compliment to Holmes's brilliance to say that he outshines a clueless idiot.

Date: 2009-05-31 08:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amedia.livejournal.com
It's no compliment to Holmes's brilliance to say that he outshines a clueless idiot.

Excellent point!

Re: Razzle-Dazzle Bathbone

Date: 2009-05-31 09:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amedia.livejournal.com
:-D My mom is pretty amazing in a lot of ways.

Date: 2009-05-31 01:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] koslorollo.livejournal.com
I always remember Basil from… what is it… The Mark of Zorro, I think. Among other things. He's so recognisable. Like the Alan Rickman of the 1930's.

Bloopers! WIN!!!!!!! So many amazing films came out in 1938!

Date: 2009-05-31 09:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amedia.livejournal.com
Like the Alan Rickman of the 1930's.

Ooh! What an awesome analogy!

I'm amazed by whoever did the IMDB page for the blooper show - someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of those movies and actors, I guess.

Date: 2009-05-31 01:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gatechic.livejournal.com
I enjoy Rathbone as Holmes, but Bruce is written and directed to play Watson as something of a dim-witted buffoon, which I don't like.

This is the truth. If I remember right, I don't think Watson was such a dim-wit in the books.

Date: 2009-05-31 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amedia.livejournal.com
If I remember right, I don't think Watson was such a dim-wit in the books.

*nodnod* You remember right! I mean, he's a doctor, for cryin' out loud!

Date: 2009-07-02 04:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bulleteyes.livejournal.com
Oh, you need to ask your mother how she came to give Basil that delicious nickname.

He and his wife were famed for their extraordinary parties. During their hey-day being invited to "The Rathbone's" was a step above being invited to visit San Simeon. "Everyone" could get in there! Not everyone was invited to "The Rathbone's!".

*chuckle*

Again, I reveal my mis-spent youth.

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