Peter Bogdanovich (1939-2022)

[hearthesilence]

It seems rather a shame to undermine Joseph McBride's nice appreciation of the film, but didn't To Sir With Love II come out around the same time as Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit? Although I'm open to that being the 'juvenilisation of the feature film market' that he is talking about.

Funny you should mention that, I was beginning to explore Bill Duke's work in-depth (new restoration of The Killing Floor screens at MoMA!) and I winced when I saw the Sister Act sequel listed in his filmography. Like Sidney Lumet once said, sometimes you gotta pay the mortgage...

[senseabove]

Some beautiful soul put Bogdanovich's brief notecard reviews on LB.

[therewillbeblus]

Some beautiful soul put Bogdanovich's brief notecard reviews on LB.

This has been an interesting account to follow, but I'm curious about his claim in a 1961 add-on review of The Lady Vanishes:

Very good (Good as he was in 1938, Hitchcock is far better now, and, contrary to popular opinion, his American work greatly surpasses his British --- and this is a fair example.)

Was it "popular opinion" in 1961 that Hitchcock had passed his prime two decades prior, when those two decades were full of hits, Oscars, noms, etc.? Seems surprising

[The Curious Sofa]

I remember that in the US and the U.K. it wasn't till the 70s that the perception that Hitchcock's best movies were his early British ones began to to shift. Of course it was the French who first came to appreciate Hitchcock's Hollywood films and then younger American and British critics like Bogdanovich and Robin Wood.

[therewillbeblus]

That's what I recalled as well, though I thought that was just critically evaluating their artfulness rather than domestic popularity, since his films seemed to've done quite well with popular audiences and esteemed by awards circuits. I think I misinterpreted his quote.

[Maltic]

I think Wood writes (probably in the revised edition) that he can't stand the British films because they remind him of the environment in which he grew up - British middle class in the 1930s.

[beamish14]

I’m reading Brian Kellow’s excellent biography of uber-agent Sue Mengers, who represented Bogdanovich during his his commercial peak and packaged What’s Up Doc? by connecting him with Ryan O’Neal, Barbara Streisand, and Buck Henry. Kellow’s book mentioned this 60 Minutes profile on Mengers, which has some great behind-the-scenes footage of At Long Last Love. The whole segment is worth a watch