(George Perry's second visit) Dearest: My guest tonight was films editor for the London Sunday Times and is currently President of the prestigious London Critics' Circle. London-born, author, journalist and film critic . . . G E O R G E P E R R Y has served as juror on several international film festivals. His lavish new book, "MAGIC MOVIE MOMENTS" (Viking Press, March, 2000) is a magnificent collection of favorite screen moments that everyone -- from film buffs to casual moviegoers -- will want to give as a gift or hoard for themselves. Perry brings together 101 all-time masterpieces with beautiful photographs -- that span the history of film -- from "Modern Times" to "Star Wars," from "Casablanca" to "The Maltese Falcon," from "The African Queen" to "The Shining." Welcome back to Power Surge, Perry. Perry: Can I first say what the book is about? We all have fond memories and favorute moments in movies. We tried to capture them in a visual book. It's meant to jerk us into remembering affectionately films that meant something to us. Dearest: Yes, of course, Perry. The book is beautiful - and a perfect gift, too! Here's my first question. What's the scoop on Liza Minnelli? I've always loved her - her singing, her dancing, her acting - everything about her, but has she inherited her mother's substance abuse problems? Perry: It's sad but her talent, which in some respects surpassed her mother, technically at any rate, has not lasted. Alas, her day is done. I've met her and found her a very nice person, and far less neurotic than Judy, well everyone is far less neurotic than Judy. Dearest: I'm so sorry to hear that because I think she was one of the most talented performers and showpersons I've ever seen :( Perry: I agree. Dearest: And she's my age - over the hill, huh? :( Thanks, Perry. Mary, go ahead with your question :) MaryO: Can you share with us some of your very favorite movies? Not necessarily the ones that your inner critic likes, but personal favorites? Perry: They change according to mood. Most are old. But I would say Singin' in the Rain, The Searchers, The Third Man, Citizen Kane of course, The Red Shoes. Dearest: Who was in The Red Shoes? That wasn't Danny Kaye, was it? <duh> Perry: As a list it could go on and on. Sunset Boulevard, The Godfather, Henry V. MaryO: Great, thanks :) Perry: No - it's a ballet film, with Moira Shearer. Dearest: Was she related to Norma Shearer? Perry: No she was from Scotland. Norma was Canadian. Dearest: Well, I'm batting -1000 tonight :) Nancy, go ahead, please. NancyPS: Is Katherine Hepburn as eccentric as she appears? I loved her in "Bringing Up Baby" Dearest: Great question. I loved her in everything :) NancyPS: me too! Perry: She could I supposed be called eccentric in that she has always gone her own way, and not cared too much for convention. When she made Bringing Up Baby she had been out of favor at the box office and comedy was not considered her forte. She was sublime. But then, so was Cary Grant. NancyPS: Thanks..thats what I admire about her..she marches to her own drummer! Dearest: Perry, what is it about movies ... the other day I was feeling very sentimental and needed to relax and found myself watching "An Affair To Remember." What is the magic they hold? Speaking about Cary Grant :) NancyPS: love him too.. Dearest: He was the consummate gentleman, Cary Grant. And impeccable timing. Perry: Well, funnily enough I too watched that the other day, and although the color and the production design and the treacky script grind a bit, the magentism of the performers holds. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. In a way it sets a benchmark for romantic films. Sleepless in Seattle used it a lot. Dearest: It's funny you should say that because I also thought the actual production was nothing to write home about, but the pathos and emotionalism has to affect everyone who sees it. Menobud: How come Empire of the Sun didn't do too well at the box office? I thought it was an amazing movie. And what is Spielberg working on now, do you know? Perry: Recently I suppose Minnie Driver in Return to Me has had a go, as the girl with a heart transplant who falls for the donor's widower. Dearest: Meryl, I absolutely loved Empire of the Sun. Saw it only recently on the tube. Fabulous movie. Menobud: Loved it MaryO: <never heard of it> :( Perry: Empire of the Sun deserved to do better. It must just be a question of the prevailing mood, which could have turned against that kind of war film. I thought that it was spectacular and had some good performances. Dearest: I agree. Pamela, you have a question for our guest? Pamela: Who do you think is the most talented movie actress of today? Dearest: Wow... how to pick one. Perry: That's a curve if ever. I tend not to go for Meryl Streep and her accents, but I have a soft spot for Cate Blanchett who did such a good job with Elizabeth. Dearest: What about Glenn Close? Perry: She is very professional, but does not stir the emotions in the way a Hepburn or a Davis could. Dearest: Why do you think? Is there a coldness to her performances? Perry: Yes - which is why she is better in unsympathetic roles. And her problem is that one where an early success proves hard to follow up. Dearest: The early success being - The Big Chill or another? Perry: Fatal Attraction. Dearest: How much of the real personality of the actor do you think comes through in the performance? Perry: It depends so much on the personality. Someone like Clint Eastwood or Paul Newman is bound to push a great deal of themselves. Robert de Niro strives the other way. Dearest: Do you think the films of yesteryear were better because they were concerned more about the film, itself, and rather than box office draw? Perry: Formula is everything now, and they run scared the whole time. Scripts seem computer generated. Most movies have ceased to be fun. I don't mean to sound like a dyspeptic curmudgeon, but so much on the screen today is not worth watching. Dearest: I'd bet that most of us agree with you, Perry. It's too bad. Nancy, go ahead with your question. NancyPS: Could you share some insight on why it's so difficult to convert books to good screenplays for movies? I mean..why can't they follow a story line better? Glenn Close scared me forever into marital fidelity with Fatal! Dearest: LOL Perry: A great British critic, Dilys Powell, who was a dear friend, said that you judge its effectiveness as a film, not a novel. She was talking about Wyler's version of Wuthering Heights. Dearest: That was breathtaking and the combination of Merle Oberon and Olivier was incredible. And I loved both the book, which I read first, and the film, too. Perry: She said it worked on screen - other critics complained Bronte was misused. Dearest: Mary, go ahead. MaryO: I just love big musical extravaganzas :) Do you think that they will ever come back in favor? Will they ever put any of Andrew Lloyd Webber's recent works into the movies or Les Miz? Maybe they cost too much more than supplying the actors with guns :( Perry: Plans for Phantom have been afoot a long time. Sadly the musical is an almost defunct genre. I loved so many of them and Singin' in the Rain is the greatest of them all, and one of the two best films about Hollywood. Dearest: In your book, Magic Movie Moments, you talk about Gene Kelly becoming ill from the dancing/singing in the rain scene. Can you share more about it with us? Perry: When he did the title number he had flu and a high temperature. The scene took three days to shoot. The rain was half milk to show up in the camera and the set started to stink. Yet he gives one of the happiest perfoances ever seen. Dearest: I have an idea. Let's one at a time type the name of an actor/actress or a film, and you give us your first reaction, ok? Perry: OK Dearest: Great. Gina, go ahead - type out any actor/actress, director, film and Perry will share info about it with us. gina: Cary Grant Perry: Well he was as has already been said a master of timing, and his ability to create humor from a situation was so dependent on that. He nver played a villain. Hitchcock came closest with Suspicion but the studio insisted on a happy ending. Dearest: Kelly, want to try it? Kelly: Beetlejuice/Michael Keaton... for some reason I love that movie. My family thinks I'm nuts. Perry: He's a very talented performer, and I'm still expecting him to really surprise us. Kelly: I think he is, too. I'd like to see more of him. Dearest: I'm curious, but what are you thoughts on Jim Carrey? Perry: He's just had such a bad press, which is a shame because he had started to become much more interesting, having shed the persona of his earlier films. Dearest: Thanks. Meryl, do you have one to share? Menobud: Barbra Streisand. Perry: I've written two cover stories on her, with 20 years in between. I preferred the Funny Girl. Ute: Diane Keaton please... Perry: A favorite. Although Hanging Up is awful - in spite of dear Walter Matthau. Dearest: Mary? MaryO: Gone With the Wind (or, if it needs to be a person, Clark Gable) <swoon> Perry: He is supposed to have had halitosis which is why Vivien Leigh puckers her nose when the kiss. She was a great beauty, not a great actress, but she had presence, and for a brief while the Oliviers were our theatrical royal couple. Dearest: Wasn't Gable married to Carol Lombard when she was killed in a plane crash? MaryO: oh no :( I'd have taken him anyway :) Perry: Yes, sadly. Do you know that she was the only big star killed on active duty in WW2? Dearest: No, I didn't, but wasn't her mother killed in the same crash? Perry: I didn't know that. Dearest: She was a fabulous actress. Was a terrible loss, as was Linda Darnell. NancyPS: I got skipped can I ask a quick one too? Jimmy Stewart, especially in "Harvey" Perry: Not in the same league, but good. Lombard was peerless. Dearest: As, I think, was Jean Arthur. Perry: Jimmy Stewart is immortal. A great man. I spent several days interviewing him about Hitchcock. He was tremendous, also very funny. Dearest: Was he as natural as he appeared in his films? NancyPS: =o) thanks! I thought so too! Perry: Jean Arthur with him in Mr Smith goes to Washington delivers a perfect co-starring performance. NancyPS: Rear Window was wonderful...Grace Kelly so perfect as was Stewart Dearest: I agree. I must've seen Mr. Smith at least 20 times over the years. Perry: Yes he was very natural. That's what folks wanted. Integrity and American grit. NancyPS: Why don't viewers want that now I wonder? MaryO: I do NancyPS: me too Mary...me too! =( Dearest: I do, Nancy. That's why I hardly go to films any longer. NancyPS: I RARELY ever go.... I may be the ONLY one on the planet who hasn't seen Titanic! Dearest: Nope.. the second :) Kelly: third NancyPS: lol Dearest: And I have no desire to see it either NancyPS: good...glad I am not the only one! Dearest: Perry, can you share some of the myths and realities about Elizabeth Taylor? Perry: You mean Dame Elizabeth? Dearest: Yes :) Perry: If anybody had presence it must be her. Without making a decent film for donkey's years she still gets headlines. That's true star power. Dearest: But I'm dying to know the scoop on Liz Taylor. Would you consider her to have been a good actress? I loved her in Butterfield 8. NancyPS: I love her eyes... beautiful color Perry: She was a huge pain when they had a tribute dinner to her in London, showing up nearly two hours late by which time the meal was cold. She was a reasonable but not a great actress. My favorite is A Place in the Sun, but she was very young then. MaryO: I think that the last thing I saw her in was Virginia Wolfe (am I dating myself? LOL) NancyPS: lol.. I would have said Black Beauty! Dearest: Yes, A Place in the Sun with Monty Clift. Perry: Yes that was good, and uncharacteristic. Dearest: What was the story about Monty Clift? Were they just good friends, or was he really in-love with Liz? Boy, talk about sounding like Hedda Hopper Perry: He nearly got the Holden part in Sunset Blvd. Then they learned that he had been having a secret affair with Libby Holman, almost as a kept man as in the film. He was dropped quickly and Holden became a megastar. He was, of course, gay but it would have been difficult for any male then not to be attracted to Liz. Dearest: Isn't it true that many actors are gay - even those we'd never imagine? NancyPS: Rock Hudson? Perry: Yes. Of both sexes. Dearest: Well, we knew about that. He certainly didn't hide it. No pun intended :( MaryO: LOL NancyPS: but...in the movies..... Perry: The studio did, even giving him a wife. Dearest: Marilyn Maxwell? Perry: No, it was a pretty something from the typing pool as I recall. Dearest: Perry, it's so late there. Isn't it after 3 AM in London now? Perry: Yes, dawn is in an hour or so. Time flies when you are having fun. Dearest: Yes, I think we've kept him long enough. Perry, thanks so much for another stimulating chat. And don't forget to buy the beautifully photograhed, MAGIC MOVIE MOMENTS. You can buy it at amazon.com. It's not only a good book, but it's a lovely gift book. Night, Perry. Thanks.. and get some sleep! Read George Perry's first transcript Disclaimer: Every guest in Power Surge is a highly respected professional whose opinions are his/her own. An appearance in Power Surge does not constitute an endorsement of a guest's views. None of these transcripts may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Power Surge™ and the respective guest. Read other transcripts by returning to the Library. Dearest aka Alice Stamm Power Surge Founder, Facilitator, Host Copyright©1994- by Power Surge. All Rights Reserved.