MovieChat Forums > Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) Discussion > Webb: body language, posture distraction

Webb: body language, posture distraction


Love the movie and Webb's direction, but Webb's body language bothers me. Not all the time, but when he walks and turns. His upper torso, back, and shoulders look stiff and unbending and he executes normal movements in a stiffened manner. This is especially obvious in the climactic scene where


SPOILERS


he and Janet Leigh are surrounded by gangster gunfire. As Webb becomes aware of each shooter, he turns in their direction - three turns, if I recall. Each of them is done in that stiff-torsoed manner and is slightly comical visually. I wish Webb had been aware of the stiffness, taken it humbly to heart, and shot or cut this scene differently.

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I've just started watching the film, he moved from the bandstand to the bar; C3PO would have looked more at ease.

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[deleted]

From what I've read, he was raised mostly by his maternal grandmother, mainly because of his mother's mental/alcohol problems. His grandmother constantly told him to "stand up straight" because of his tendency to slouch.

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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He turned out also to be quite conservative, which often gets associated with "stiff" and similar images

You're kidding, right?

(seems to be true but then I'm prejudiced).

Boy that's for sure.

Tell me something: Were/are Jimmy Stewart, Ginger Rogers, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood (remember Obama's empty chair bit at the Republican National Convention?) stiff as well? I'm very curious.

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[deleted]

holy crap... i don't care what you studied or any topic on which you think you're an expert. can you not see this?

typical psych grad -- physician, heal thyself!! (alexander & rolfing... nice try, jackass),

and please, get back on your meds ASAP, this is serious... you need help.

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Absolutely amazing, and could only happen now. A discussion of a guy in a 1955 movie playing a cornet player gets turned into a political argument.

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Just caught part of the movie (not from the very beginning, just from when Rose is first brought in to sing.) That last bit in the empty dance hall did seem odd. I'm no expert, but the way Webb turns so sharp - it almost looks like they shot the scene at a different rate than they played it back. (Sort of the opposite of slo-mo.)

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"Just the facts. When did you see this movement you talk about? I need a date and a time for my report." :-)

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