Thursday, April 01, 2021

Speak Easily - 1932 - Editing Exercise - Sequence 7 - The Awkward Seduction

Considering the chemistry that Thelma Todd had with the Marx Brothers in Horsefeathers, also from 1932, it is interesting to compare her scenes with Keaton with those of Groucho. Chico, and even Zeppo.  It doesn't help that this is a drinking scene, and perhaps something other than tea had been placed in the decanters.  Todd's reactions are great, nonetheless, if somewhat lost in the medium shots.  And Spite Marriage is used again for material, however briefly, in getting her to stand up near the end.

What rhythm the scene has is broken with the extended insert of the cuckoo clock, no matter how clever the swirling effect, and the class agreed that one clumsy backflip over the sofa was quite enough.  So out came the scissors, and everyone had fun resizing those master shots!


We also noticed something very odd about the staging of Keaton in bed at the end of sequence 7, especially in context of the way sequence 8 begins.  But that's another entry in this never-ending series!

1932 - 8 minutes, 40 seconds
2021 - 7 minutes, 29 seconds
Oh, if only diets were this easy!



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