२७ सप्टेंबर, २०२४

Goodbye to Maggie Smith.


The wonderful actress was 89.

NYT obituary here.

ADDED: Sorry my embedded video doesn't put Maggie Smith in the freeze frame, but she does appear prominently in the clip, and it's a great clip from one of my favorite movies, "A Room With a View." Smith plays the stilted chaperone for the main character, who is an exuberant young woman, but feeling the emotion of the repressed older woman is crucial to the deepest understanding of that incredibly moving film.

३३ टिप्पण्या:

The Drill SGT म्हणाले...

Classy Actress. Classy Lady. RIP

Rocco म्हणाले...

The dowager Countess of Grantham more often than not had the best lines.

Sally327 म्हणाले...

Wonderful actress. I don't think she was capable of a bad performance, so incredibly gifted. And really a very beautiful woman. It's easy just to think of her as this aged kind of crone figure, as in Downton Abbey or Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but seeing her in some of the earlier films, really very pretty. She knew all the greats, i bet she had a lot of interesting stories about people!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I forgot that tedious English scene. Julian Sands is also gone. Very sad.
Maggie Smith is delightful - same with Judy Dench.

GrapeApe म्हणाले...

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit. Great lady.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

"Incredibly moving" means nothing from a woman.

Darkisland म्हणाले...

Loved her in both Travels with my Aunt and Downton Abbey

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

I first loved her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Wonderful performance.

Ficta म्हणाले...

The Alan Bennett monologue "Bed Among the Lentils" is really fantastic and Maggie Smith is perfect in it. A great choice to celebrate her career if you're looking for something to watch.

Kate म्हणाले...

The Miss Allens. Wonderful movie.

Kate म्हणाले...

And the great Denholm Elliott.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

I think you have blinders of your own. "Incredibly moving" appears to mean "insufferably tedious", and as such serves as a useful warning.

rosebud म्हणाले...

McGonagall but not McForgottenagall

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

I recall her as a great guest on the Carol Burnett Show.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

Snippets of that guest performance are on YouTube.

The rule of Lemnity म्हणाले...

I bought the VHS. It was my ‘Dinner with Andre’.

Lazarus म्हणाले...

"What is a 'week-end'?"

She had some excellent lines in "Downton Abbey" -- worthy of Oscar Wilde.

FWBuff म्हणाले...

What a star! And thank you for highlighting "A Room with a View"; she was a standout in that ensemble of great actors.

Nancy म्हणाले...

Helena Bonhsm Carter was the most beautiful young woman ever.

William म्हणाले...

She won an acclaimed actress when younger, but she had her great roles and best lines as an old woman. She played Desdemona next to Laurence Olivier's blackface Othello in 1965. She was kind of hot in that role, but it's an example of post facto type casting. It's kind of confusing to see the Countess as a hot Desdemona. Not so bad as Judi Dench though. Dench had to wear pasties and a nude body suit for her portrayal of Titania in A Midsummer Night.

Rocco म्हणाले...

Jupiter said...
”Incredibly moving" appears to mean "insufferably tedious", and as such serves as a useful warning.

“Incredibly moving” is what I want from a fiber supplement.

CrankyProfessor म्हणाले...

One of my favorite films - I watched it for the first time in a long while recently. What a treat!

matthew49 म्हणाले...

In that brief clip there appear, in addition to Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Denholm Elliot, and Julian Sands. That's a lot of talent!

narciso म्हणाले...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059555/mediaviewer/rm2159291136?ft0=name&fv0=nm0001749&ft1=image_type&fv1=still_frame&ref_=tt_ch

The rule of Lemnity म्हणाले...

WaPo is calling her "ebullient scene-stealer of stage and screen".

The Godfather म्हणाले...

No, she didn't "steal" a scene. She performed a scene, as written. If she was better at what she did than others, that's because she was the better actor. Actors know what "stealing" a scene means, and I never saw her do that.

Michael Fitzgerald म्हणाले...

Mmm Judi Dench...was wondering who that was. Her beauty makes the others around her look common, including Helen Carter and her bushy eyebrows.

FWBuff म्हणाले...

And Daniel Day-Lewis was also in the movie, but not in this scene. A great ensemble cast!

Creola Soul म्हणाले...

Loved her in the black comedy “Keeping Mum”.

Creola Soul म्हणाले...

Loved her in the black comedy “Keeping Mum”.

They’re eating the cats — They’re eating the dogs म्हणाले...

RIP Dame Maggie. One of the most formidable actresses of her time. Just one of my and my daughters’ favorites, her withering line in Gosford Park: “shop bought marmalade? I consider that very poor”.

Bruce Gee म्हणाले...

One of our family favorite movies is A PRIVATE FUNCTION with Maggie as a nagging, social climbing wife of a specialist in "feet". Pure gold British humor.

Terry di Tufo म्हणाले...

In the novel (Room with a View), George realizes that Charlotte is consistently bringing Lucy's attention back to him, even when her comments are ill-intentioned. This realization is not shown in the movie, but Maggie Smith's performance conveys the emotional tension Charlotte feels in connection with George. More movie commentary from our Professor, it will exciting for both us and for her.