INSPIRATION: ART & DESIGN

INSPIRATION: ART & DESIGN

Photographing roses well is hard, but these photographs for the book on English roses are beautiful…

https://www.lukestephenson.com/the-english-rose#22

FILM 1939: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

FILM 1939: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

TRIVIA: The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called "Operation Ethel" by the firm of engineers who constructed her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board, took three months to make, and cost three thousand pounds sterling (in 1946). "Ethel" had one hundred six steps, each twenty feet wide, and was driven by a twelve horsepower engine. The full shot was completed by hanging miniatures.

The first scene shot was David Niven washing up on the beach. Originally planned to fade in from black, Michael Powell decided on the spot that the effect would be too cheesy. When Jack Cardiff told him to look through the camera, Cardiff then deliberately breathed right onto the lens, which fogged the glass for a few seconds until it evaporated. Powell loved the idea and had him use it for the shot.

The premiere (November 1, 1946), at the Empire, Leicester Square, London was held in the presence of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and became the first Royal Film Performance.

For the ping pong scene, Kim Hunter and Roger Livesey were trained by Alan Brooke, the British champion who played many games with International Champion Victor Barna. During a visit to Denham Studios the two champions played a couple of games before an admiring audience of artists and technicians. For luck, Hunter borrowed one of Brooke's tournament paddles for her movie game.

The inspiration for Peter's medical condition came from the semi-autobiographical novel "A Journey Round My Skull" by Hungarian novelist Frigyes Karinthy. More precise medical detail came from Emeric Pressburger's research in the British Library and consultations with Michael Powell's brother in law, Dr. Joe Reidy, who was a plastic surgeon in London.

J.K. Rowling has cited this movie as her favorite movie of all time.

Sir Richard Attenborough (An English Pilot) only has one line: "It's Heaven, isn't it?"

During his "final" radio broadcast, Peter tells June that he is twenty-six-years-old. David Niven was actually thirty-six when this movie was made, and twelve years older than Kim Hunter.

Crispus Attucks was a black American killed in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

FILM 1675: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

TRVIA: During the filming process, Lily James stated that she had a scene where she had to walk through an area with zombie heads all around. Of course, most of them were fake props and she was directed to stomp on one. They would have supposedly gotten squished, however she stomped and realized everyone behind cameras were all staring at her in shock. She looked down and realized she stepped on one of the few extras' head.

All the actresses playing the Bennet sisters did their own stunts for the film.

Natalie Portman was originally cast as Elizabeth Bennet but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone, Mia Wasikowska, Rooney Mara, Mila Kunis and Blake Lively were considered to replace her before Lily James was finally cast. Portman remains on board as a producer.

Matt Smith dated co-star Lily James during the film's production.

FILM 1666: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

TRIVIA: Whilst working on the script, Emma Thompson's computer developed a problem and she was unable to locate the file. She took the computer to Stephen Fry, an expert in Apple computers, who, after seven hours, finally managed to retrieve the script. This is why Stephen is thanked in the credits by the producers.

During filming, the Jane Austen Society telephoned co-producer James Schamus to complain about the casting of Hugh Grant claiming that he was too good-looking to play Edward Ferrars.

Emma Thompson has recounted how during the scene where Colonel Brandon, on horseback, approaches Elinor and Marianne in the out-of-doors, many takes were ruined by the horse surrendering to a bout of flatulence. Eventually, they were forced to shoot the scene with the farting horse as the flatulence would not abate, and the rather loud reports later were edited out of the soundtrack.

Emma Thompson's first draft of the screenplay consisted of 350 hand-written pages. The final draft was a culmination of that and 13 other drafts which were written over four and a half years.

Ang Lee originally was considering Kate Winslet only for the smaller part of Lucy Steele even though she really wanted to play Marianne. When Winslet arrived at her audition she pretended that her agent had sent her to read for Marianne, and her reading won her the role.

There is an ironic twist surrounding the casting of Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. Although they portray love interests on screen, Kate Winslet and Greg Wise only dated briefly in reality before Greg took to Winslet's on-screen sister Emma Thompson. Thompson and Wise were together for 8 years before getting married. Together they have one adopted son and one biological daughter. Interestingly, Richard Lumsden who portrays Thompson's on-screen brother-in-law Robert Ferrars, is her brother-in-law in real life. Lumsden is married to Emma's younger sister, Sophie Thompson, who was also featured in two movie adaptations of Jane Austen's books, Screen Two: Persuasion (1995).and Emma (1996). Sophie Thompson portrayed in Screen Two: Persuasion (1995). the younger sister of the story's main character Anne Elliot, who was portrayed by Amanda Root, who ironically enough was sought for the role of Marianne in Sense and Sensibility (1995). Root, however, could not appear due to her obligations to film Persuasion. In a nutshell, Amanda Root landed a role in a Jane Austen adaptation and was coincidentally asked to star in another one. When she could not appear, another actress who dated the future husband of her on-screen sister's sister was given the role, and her on-screen sister's real life husband portrayed the on-screen brother-in-law of his real life sister-in-law in the same film that she could not star in.

Emma Thompson, Gemma Jones, Robert Hardy, Elizabeth Spriggs, Alan Rickman, and Imelda Staunton all appear in the Harry Potter series.

In her book "The Sense and Sensibility (1995) Screenplay & Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen's Novel to Film", Emma Thompson writes that after a particularly difficult day filming a sequence that involved a flock of sheep, Ang Lee swore that he would never again use the animals on a movie set. Ten years later, however, Ang Lee went on to direct (and win a directing Oscar for) Brokeback Mountain (2005), which is about two men who meet while sheep herding.

Director Ang Lee had not read Jane Austen's novel when Columbia first sent him Emma Thompson's script.

With her Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award win, Emma Thompson became the first person to receive Oscars for acting and writing.

The sheer dotted muslin gown Kate Winslet, (Marianne Dashwood), wears during the lawn bowling scene at Barton Park is the same costume Charity Wakefield (Marianne Dashwood) wears at Norland Park in Sense & Sensibility (2008). The costume is also worn by Amelia Warner (Fanny Price, age 17) in Mansfield Park (1999) and by Jennifer Higham (Louisa Musgrove) at Uppercross in Persuasion (2007).

The film's release and popularity saw the original novel returning to the New York Times' Bestseller List.

The scene where Willoughby rescues Marianne in driving rain took about 50 takes. This resulted in Kate Winslet contracting hypothermia.

FILM 1579: AMANDA KNOX

American exchange student Amanda Knox is convicted and eventually acquitted for the 2007 death of another student, Meredith Kercher in Italy.

FILM 1341: THE UNINVITED

TRIVIA: The beautiful song "Stella By Starlight" was written specifically for this movie and is featured several times. In the movie Roderick Fitzgerald "writes" it for Stella Meredith.

In an article in USA Today (August 22, 2011), Guillermo del Toro chooses this as one of his six favorite "fright flicks."