Right, so yesterday I sat down to have tea in front of the tv and had a flick round to see if there was anything worth watching. I came across the second half of The Last of the Mohicans (which I've seen far too many times over the years) and having recently seen Jodhi May in the BBC's adaptation of Emma I kept it on. Within 20 mins of it finishing I'd gone upstairs, found my copy of The Age of Innocence and completed an impromtu Daniel Day Lewis double bill. I'm always surprised by how much I like The Age of Innocence, I don't think it's Scorsese's best film but it could easily be my favourite and definitely has one of the most beautiful shots/moments I've ever seen with Michelle Pfeiffer on the jetty with the sunset glistening off the waves while Day Lewis wills her to turn around. What the hell, the blog isn't letting me link to pictures so I'll just upload this screencap - here it is :)

La Pfeiffer

Whilst researching on wikipedia and imdb (i.e. finding out precisely HOW BADLY IT WAS SNUBBED DAMMIT!!! :D by the oscars) I came across the fact that there had been a couple of adaptations in the 20s and 30s, and the divine Irene Dunne had played Madame Olenska in RKO's version. Now this immediately leapt out at me as a particularly inspired piece of casting and I frantically, to no avail sadly, hunted the search engines to see if I could find it online. What that failure did though is make me dig for an Irene Dunne film I hadn't seen and knew I could find, namely Love Affair.

It took me a little while, but as soon as Dunne and Charles Boyer (who I'm very hit and miss on) turn up at his grandmother's house, I realised that this was an earlier version of An Affair to Remember (and it turns out Leo McCarey directed both), which is quite fitting seeing as I very recently saw Sleepless in Seattle and it plays such a big role in that film. 1939 was a truly vintage year for Hollywood and this got nominated all over the shop at the oscars that year. In a way I can see why because it's a very appealing film. I think the remake spoiled Maria Ouspenskaya's performance for me because I preferred Cathleen Nesbitt so much more. Indeed a classic, I probably prefer the remake because I'm a big fan of Cary Grant's and only a bit more of Dunne's than Kerr's, but I still haven't seen the 50s version all the way through so for now, this is ahead in my mind.

After seeing that I moved straight on to Mourning Becomes Electra, because the same person had uploaded both and I'd wanted to see it for years, being infamous for the biggest oscar shock ever, with Rosalind Russell so sure she'd win she'd got out of her seat before Loretta Young's name was read out. This is the newly extended cut and boy does it drag, I really wish, rather like Fanny & Alexander that I'd seen the original theatrical shorter version. The acting was good but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit disappointing given the reputation of both Russell's and Michael Redgrave's performances. Raymond Massey and Katina Paxinou come to play, but it's such a stagey, turgid drag of a film I couldn't recommend it outside of the curiosity value.

Which brings me on to another extended version, Untitled, which is Cameron Crowe's director's cut of Almost Famous (with about 40 minutes added to it) which was on tv tonight. I've always found the original version to be so overrated, mainly because for me Kate Hudson was so annoying, fake and charmless and the whole soul of the film is her character and her relationships, so if you don't like her you're on to a loser with the film. I was extremely underwhelmed when I first saw it because I'm such a fan of rock music and Crowe's Singles is easily my favourite film on the subject and given the critical (if not financial, it bombed) reception it didn't live up to the hype.

Despite having the same feelings about Hudson (the character is so well written I almost cry when I think that as stunningly soulful an actress as Sarah Polley turned it down) I did find this version more watchable. There are more genuine laugh-out-loud moments than I remembered and even if there are some dodgy lines in there ("let's deflower the kid!" :S) it is a film with its heart in the right place. I think the new cut fleshes out some of the relationships more and I do think it's improved in pacing despite the added length. The trouble is though most people who love this film have Hudson and the Tiny Dancer scene as their highlights, whereas I can't stand Elton John and Hudson will always be the reason I'll never take this film to my heart, even though it hits on so many areas that ostensibly appeal to me that I'll equally always feel that I should.