Snappy Dialogue: Classic Hollywood Love Stories Set the Bar High

When the subject initially came up to talk about Hollywood as one of our Girlfriends Book Club themes for the fall, the very first thing that came to mind for me were these two classic films: "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, and "Roman Holiday" (1953), starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn and Eddie Albert. I watched them both first in black & white as a teen and -- these many, many years later! -- I still love them best that way.

I'll always adore the inspired banter in "The Philadelphia Story," particularly the back-and-forth zings of Katharine (Tracy Lord) and Cary (C.K. Dexter Haven), still-feuding ex-spouses who are reunited by a little journalistic blackmail on the eve of Tracy's wedding to another man. There's this moment, fairly early in the film, when they're out by the pool arguing and Jimmy Stewart's character (innocent journalist Macaulay "Mike" Connor) is getting a bit uncomfortable with Tracy and Dexter's rising tempers. He tries to slink away from them, but they notice, of course, and refuse to let him leave. They like having the audience. Long before I was ever a writer, I'd laugh whenever I'd hear this exchange. It was just so well paced and comical:


Dexter: How about you, Mr. Connor? You drink, don't you? Alcohol, I mean.
Mike: A little.
Dexter: A little? And you're a writer? Tsk, tsk, tsk. I thought all writers drank to excess and beat their wives. You know, at one time I think I secretly wanted to be a writer. [He looks up at him and grins.]
Tracy: Dexter, would you mind doing something for me?
Dexter: Anything, what?
Tracy: Get the heck out of here.
Dexter: I couldn't do that. That wouldn't be fair to you. You need me too much.
Tracy: Would you tell me what you're hanging around for? [Mike tries to sneak away.] No, please don't go, Mr. Connor.
Dexter: No, please don't go, Mr. Connor. As a writer, this ought to be right up your street.
Tracy: Don't miss a word.

Then, of course, there's "Roman Holiday," with an escaped princess (Audrey Hepburn playing Princess Ann), who's feeling the effects of sleep medication but is on the loose in Rome late one night, and an American journalist (Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley), who just stumbled onto what could be the biggest story of his career. This is one of many laugh-aloud scenes:

Ann: Do you know my favorite poem?
Joe: You already recited that for me.
Ann: "Arethusa rose from her couch of snows in the Acroceraunian mountains" - Keats.
Joe: Shelley.
Ann: Keats!
Joe: Now, you just keep your mind off the poetry and on the pajamas, and everything'll be all right, see.
Ann: It's Keats.
Joe: Now, I'll be - it's Shelley - I'll be back in about ten minutes.
Ann: Keats.
[Joe walks to his door and hides his wine bottle on the top of the mantelpiece.]
Ann: You have my permission to withdraw.
Joe: Thank you very much...


There aren't a lot of films that make me feel as giddy with happiness as these two classic love stories -- I have posters of both in my writing office for inspiration -- but I also really enjoy "When Harry Met Sally," "While I Was Sleeping" and "The Mark of Zorro"... What about you? What are your favorite (modern or classic) Hollywood films? In which of them do you feel the dialogue just sparkles?

Marilyn Brant is a chocolate lover, music junkie and old-movie addict who lives in the Chicago area with her husband and son. She's also the award-winning women's fiction author of According to Jane (October 2009), Friday Mornings at Nine (October 2010) and the upcoming novel A Summer in Europe (Fall 2011). Visit her at: www.marilynbrant.com.

Movies

As you may or may not know about me, I write historical romance and paranormal romance. And yes, I adore the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. Colin Firth all the way! I own at least one DVD version of every Jane Austen novel to movie.

But my favorite kind of movie? Ever in the whole world?

Martial Arts. Oh my gosh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE martial arts movies. When my son was little we embarked on a mission to see every movie Jackie Chan and Jet Li ever made. Because, seriously, I would totally marry Jet Li and have his babies. (I mean that in a completely virtual sense, by the way.) I did preview a few of the movies before I watched them with my son, but really, a movie challenge like allowed me to observe that over time movie ratings mean just about nothing. Movies today are far more violent. (Thank you Reservoir Dogs, which I think started the bloody violence we see in movies. I happen to have very much liked Reservoir Dogs, by the way.) Movies in the past, believe it or not, were far more casual about naked women and much less violent, excluding Wes Craven and his ilk. (I love a good zombie movie, too!)

I was quite surprised when a pretty ridiculous Jackie Chan movie from the early 80's contained a LOT of female nudity. This was a Western produced movie by way. (No wonder Chan started doing his own movies.) Completely gratuitous. I think every time Chan wasn't fighting they were afraid the movie would be boring, so they'd say hey! Time for a naked woman! And some shirtless woman would show up for reasons I still can't figure out. There was no sex. Just naked women. There. For, well, whatever. Look! Boobs!

While I don't think my son and I managed to see ALL the movies by these two actors, we came darn close. I recommend Chan's Shaolin Wooden Men. It's not easy to find, but Chan is very very young in this movie and despite the lack of plot, there's a lot of martial arts training that will make your muscles hurt just from watching. Impressive.

When Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out, American audiences for the most part thought they were seeing a first for magical Kung Fu moves. The movie deserved the acclaim, of course, but in that sense it wasn't ground breaking. There are many many movies that involve the magical properties believed to be gained by Kung Fu masters. Just about all the movies set in the Chinese historical past call on the supernatural gifts of these fighters. I love all those movies, too. I'm a sucker for men in Chinese robes.

One of the best of these is Chan's Legend of the Drunken Master. It's hilariously funny for one thing. Chan at his best. Many martial arts movies, and I am speaking in the main about movies made in Hong Kong and NOT for the American market, feature amazingly strong women who are also Kung Fu masters. I was impressed and thrilled to watch the women kick butt and glad that my son was seeing these role models.  Heck yeah! Drunken Master is an excellent example of this, by the way. The grandmother will have you in stitches -- and she's no slouch at fighting. I have to think hard to find a genre of American movies of the same period (1980s through the 1990s) that feature such consistently strong and independent women who were in no way inferior to the men EVEN WITH their lives lived in the female sphere. Check it out.

I've hardly touched on my love for Jet Li. <3 <3 <3. Tip: If you're going to watch a martial arts movie that wasn't specifically made for Hollywood, make sure you get the Hong Kong version and NOT the version released to the West because, I am sorry to tell you, that the Western versions have almost always been horribly edited. The best example of this is Jet Li's Contract Killer. The Western version has so many scenes cut that it actually doesn't make sense and some of the best fight scenes are shorter and don't even include the best work. Worse, the Western version (which is badly dubbed) includes dialog for an Indian character that is, frankly, offensive and racist. This does not appear in the Hong Kong version.

Another great example is Li's The Defender (US version) and Bodyguard from Beijing (Hong Kong version). These are the same movie, but the Hong Kong version makes more sense and includes longer and better fight scenes. It's also highly romantic. ::sigh::

Li's Romeo Must Die is a movie made for Hollywood with fighting that is beyond awesome because of Li's athleticism and the profoundly well done underdog element. Plus it has Russel Wong in it and you can't go wrong there. You could make an interesting comparison to Beowulf since the movie includes a flashback scene of Li and his fictional brother swimming/floating from China to Hong Kong. Beowulf, if you've read the entire poem, left his home via the ocean . . . It's not a perfect parallel, but many of the elements that make Beowulf exciting appear in lots of martial arts movies.

I could literally keep going on this subject but I won't. Instead, I will leave you to discuss the awesomeness of Jet Li in the comments. If you haven't seen a martial arts movie before, why not? If you have, which one(s) and what did you think? I will send a copy of Bodyguard From Beijing to one lucky, random commenter.