MovieChat Forums > Show People (1928) Discussion > favorite moment...?

favorite moment...?

posted 15 years ago by ksf-2
10 replies | jump to latest

... mine, when Billy (Haines) says: "My acting is the scandal of Hollywood!" over dinner. must have been an inside joke for the cast/crew. that would blow up on him in the 1930's when he got canned by Mayer over his lifestyle.
ksf-2

[–] zasu-2 15 years ago

You're probably right about that. However, isn't it interesting that here we are in 2009, an the vast majority of gay Hollywood actors still insist on remaining in the closet for fear their careers would be ruined if they were to come out?

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

zasu-2 says > ...isn't it interesting that here we are in 2009, an the vast majority of gay Hollywood actors still insist on remaining in the closet for fear their careers would be ruined if they were to come out?

I know a lot of people like to be Politically Correct but I'm willing to say it. I think then as now it probably is best if gay actors stay in the closet. I'm all for people being honest about who they are and not living a lie but I know it would be a turn off for me to know an actor is gay. It wouldn’t matter in some movies but it can be career limiting. I cannot possibly be the only one who feels this way.

As a heterosexual woman I love romantic movies, love scenes (not explicit) in movies, etc. I can be really sappy when it comes to things like that. I do have a hard time buying it when I know someone is gay and not really interested in who they're kissing or supposed to be in love with. We're not talking about the person; we're talking about the whole gender they’re not interested in.

Call it what you want but it's the truth about how I feel. Movies are make-believe but more and more we're being asked to go to another level of disbelief. With CGI and all these other technologies a lot of what we see is beyond make believe. I avoid those movies too. I also don't like the movies with limited sets that require the audience to imagine the scenery. I don't like women playing men's roles and vice versa. I don't like knowing too much about an actor's personal life whatever it may be. If I don't like them as a person I have a hard time separating that from their character. Come on, I can only pretend so much.

Obviously, I'm not saying I should get to decide who gets to act and who shouldn't but I'm not the only one who feels this way. Being able to convince the audience that you're the character you're playing is, after all, part of the job. If I couldn't do certain functions of my job I wouldn't be able to do my job either.

Haines was a good actor. I suppose the studio worried his movies would fail if people knew he was gay. Apparently he flaunted it. I think they were well within their rights to ask him to tone it down. The same kind of thing was done with young starlets and matinee idols. They often were asked to hide marriages so their fans would not lose hope, as false as it was, that they stood a chance with that person. That still happens today so let's just, for once, be honest.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] noki53 14 years ago

I loved when *Peggy* encountered Marion Davies and gave ger the "she ain't so hot" treatment.
I came to Casablanca for the waters.....

[–] TheMajorNL 14 years ago

I laughed out loud when the director told Marion to read the letter, even though nothing was written on it.

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My movie ratings: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=22350856

[–] noelle-ewen 13 years ago

I loved the scene where the director is trying to get her to cry on cue, trying all sorts of things - I laughed out loud when we see the guy standing beneath her slicing an onion!!!

[–] lynda618 8 years ago

Definitely the scene where she was looking all over that piece of paper for the writing!

And also the fact that when she became a big star, her name changed from Peggy Pepper to Patricia Pepoir!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] flaiky 9 years ago

The director trying to make Peggy cry (and yes, read the letter!), Chaplin's cameo, every time Davies pulled her snobby actress face...loads more, comedy gold throughout. 

That is a masterpiece of understatement.

[–] davidjanuzbrown 8 years ago

This is only the second time I ever saw Haines in a movie ( the first that had him do a love scene), and I did not buy it. When you see a great actor ( or actress) you notice the character, not the person playing him. This guy had pansy and lightweight written all over him ( and I do not look for those things ( In fact, I would have not have known it was Haines without seeing the credits)). I did not like the movie (except for a couple of Davies scenes like on the pig), and based on what I saw, Haines would have failed at the Box Office even if he would not have gotten fired because during the Depression people wanted harder edged movies ( with the exception of Shirley Temple). Is William Haines the worst actor ( or actress) I ever saw? No that is Cloris Leachman. But if he was not gay no one would know who he is today. I guarantee you that if he is in a movie I am not watching it.