--Brian

I don't buy it.

But the rest of the obit was wonderful, recognizing that Wise's stylistic invisibility was an asset even if no one ever thought of him as an auteur.

My favorite Wise film is THE SAND PEBBLES (with that magnificent Goldmith score!)

At the Q&A session he was asked which film he liked the most and he didn't say it was The Haunting which we had just seen. What he said was "The Sound of Music has had such an impact on audiences worldwide that I recognize it as the most special of my films." Which isn't really the same as calling it a favorite.

There is a story that during the making of it Julie Andrews went up to Wise and said "This film is just corn" or something to that effect and Wise supposedly replied, "I know. I know."

He also defended his position on Ambersons by saying that the film previewed badly and that there wasn't much that could be done in any case because, "With the start of WW2, people just weren't interested in the Ambersons and their problems."

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lou Goldberg:
Dang, my small namedropping can't compare with yours Filmfactsman. So you hung out with both Wise and Fay Kanin. Who else do you know out in LA?

At the Q&A session he was asked which film he liked the most and he didn't say it was The Haunting which we had just seen. What he said was "The Sound of Music has had such an impact on audiences worldwide that I recognize it as the most special of my films." Which isn't really the same as calling it a favorite.

There is a story that during the making of it Julie Andrews went up to Wise and said "This film is just corn" or something to that effect and Wise supposedly replied, "I know. I know."

He also defended his position on Ambersons by saying that the film previewed badly and that there wasn't much that could be done in any case because, "With the start of WW2, people just weren't interested in the Ambersons and their problems."

He may have been right but I guess I'm too upset over it all to let Wise off the hook.

---

Unfortunately, most of the people I know are quickly dying off. I was only really interested in getting to know the true legends in film and music. Sadly, there aren't very many left. Most actors and directors won't tell an audience what their really favorite film is, out of fear of offending those who don't agree. But when you get to talk to them one-on-one, it's sometimes amazing what you can learn about them. I hate to name drop again but Julie Andrews told me that her favorite movie was THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lou Goldberg:
So FFM who else have you met (living or not) and how were you able to meet them?

---

I met a lotta legends, but that's because I'm a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and screenings and other functions. The nicest person I met recently was Sidney Poitier. He came and spoke at a screening of "In the Heat of the Night" that we held at Santa Monica College. I've run into him a few times since at Academy functions. He was one of the very few people that I was deeply impressed with--mnostly for his modestly (he goes places all by himself in his own car).

The most exciting time was meeting Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at a party for a play they were doing in Los Angeles ("Private Lives")in the early '80s. I was much more interested in meeting HIM. He's my favorite actor.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lou Goldberg:
So FFM who else have you met (living or not) and how were you able to meet them?

---

I met a lotta legends, but that's because I'm a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and screenings and other functions. The nicest person I met recently was Sidney Poitier. He came and spoke at a screening of "In the Heat of the Night" that we held at Santa Monica College. I've run into him a few times since at Academy functions. He was one of the very few people that I was deeply impressed with--mnostly for his modestly (he goes places all by himself in his own car).

The most exciting time was meeting Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at a party for a play they were doing in Los Angeles ("Private Lives")in the early '80s. I was much more interested in meeting HIM. He's my favorite actor.

Hey Lou: At that screening of The Haunting, did you or Wise or anyone say anything about Humphrey Searle's ham-fisted crappadelic music? If Wise had no compunction about trashing The Magnificent Ambersons, he could at least have deleted the crap out of Searle's crappy music. (Oh and uh, by the way: the magic word-of-the-day is "CRAP".)