SCFZ

Polling the films of George Sidney

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half* of the Sidney films you've seen, up to a maximum of 8. So if you've seen 6 films, you can vote for 3, and if you've seen 20, you can vote for up to 8.

* If you've seen an odd number, you can round up when deciding the length of your ballot -- e.g if you've seen 7, you can vote for 4, and if you've seen 15, you can vote for the maximum of 8.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

again chosen randomly, i'm a bit stunned to have seen none, must be one of the most prolific directors of that era for whom that would be true for me

Must not like musicals much. Sidney was the competent go to guy for a lot of 'em and a few slightly swashy bucklers, close to musicals in their type of showbizzy spectacle. Hard to pick between a lot of them really.

i don't mind musicals! but it's true i haven't seen nearly as many musicals (or swashbucklers for that matter) as i have noirs and screwball comedies, so maybe that's why i haven't encountered sidney yet. i will seek something out to watch soon!

George Sidney!! I've had an on-and-off interest in his work. Bye Bye Birdie is one of my favourite cosy watches. Sarris says it best "Alongside Sidney, [Mervyn] LeRoy looks like a Bressonian director." (That's probably my all-time favourite cinephile in-joke, incidentally.) A wonderfully garish director at his most distinctive, otherwise a perfectly serviceable director of genre product.

1. Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
2. Viva La Vegas (1964)
3. Love on Tap (1939)
4. The Harvey Girls (1946)

Seen 7.

flip wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 7:09 pm again chosen randomly, i'm a bit stunned to have seen none, must be one of the most prolific directors of that era for whom that would be true for me

if you're a bit stunned to have seen none, i'm INSANELY stunned to have seen ten... wtf!

bye bye birdie
quicker'n a wink
kiss me kate
what's your iq? #2
party fever

QUICKER'N A WINK

despite this (supposedly educational) flick promotes an obscure/obsolete theory of cats' lapping up milk via the underside of the tongue (scooping the milk by bending the tongue backward) and after concocting this obscurity even saying “see how smart you get when you go to the movies”, i guess it is still votable (considering a hummingbird also appears in it).

https://twitter.com/jirinvk/status/1486 ... 15105?s=20

https://youtu.be/AZ1CFLKGMIw

2.

Scaramouce

i see the dude also made a peplum with multicolored elephants!
mhm (despite having misconceptions about milk & cats), he was maybe not as bad as i think?!?

there are not only multicolored elephants, it's a mermaid peplum!

https://youtu.be/2gjaDAwf5mg

slightly confused to realize i've watched viva las vegas 3 times

greennui wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:09 pm 2.

Scaramouc(h)e

same

I've seen waaaay too little Sidney.
Obviously need to change that.

01. Scaramouche (1952)
02. The Three Musketeers (1948)

Sidney seen: 3

neon ovalis wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:54 pm there are not only multicolored elephants, it's a mermaid peplum!

https://youtu.be/2gjaDAwf5mg

wba wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 1:19 pm

i see the dude, who in the 1940s lied about how cats sip milk, concocted a baseless/barefoot Doric order in his 1950s peplum!
what big lies did he spread on screen in the 1930s or 1960s?

omg, and the same dude made a film called "What's Your I.Q.?"
absurd!
p.s. let me guess why this flick is completely hidden from me... most probably it's full of the dirtiest lies (called "exceptions to the rule")!

The off screen narrator asks a series of multiple choice trivia questions to test the viewers' knowledge of general and sometimes obscure facts.

Questions and answers on various subjects, from Lady Godiva to the Panama Canal.

The 30 point question asks of Lady Godiva and others like her. In the demonstration of this question, the narrator shows that there are always exceptions to the rule.

Heh. Blowing the lid off another movie scandal. Your investigative work is tops Jiri!

Seems definitely a guy who is worth investigating further!!

I've seen a short 3D-film made by him in the 1940s in 3D at the cinema, but don't remember much as the movie seemed rather uninteresting to me (besides the fine 3D work).

"what's your IQ #1"?? where did u find it jiri? i've only ever managed to see "what's your IQ #2"

Curtis, baby wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:05 pm "what's your IQ #1"?? where did u find it jiri? i've only ever managed to see "what's your IQ #2"

neon ovalis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:58 pm this flick is completely hidden from me

i am unable to find even "what's your IQ #2" (not to speak of "what's your IQ #1").
so, instead of providing "what's your IQ #1", i rather hope you will tell me where to get "what's your IQ #2"?

The Harvey Girls
Kiss Me Kate
Annie Get Your Gun
Viva Las Vegas
Bye Bye Birdie
The Three Muskateers
Young Bess

neon ovalis wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:04 am

Curtis, baby wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:05 pm "what's your IQ #1"?? where did u find it jiri? i've only ever managed to see "what's your IQ #2"

neon ovalis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:58 pm this flick is completely hidden from me

i am unable to find even "what's your IQ #2" (not to speak of "what's your IQ #1").
so, instead of providing "what's your IQ #1", i rather hope you will tell me where to get "what's your IQ #2"?

i saw it on tcm once i think 0:

sidney's lone best pic nominee, 1945's anchors aweigh, which i gather has some roger rabbit-style animation+live action scenes, got no support at all. some other sidney musicals take our top few slots:

results
1. Bye Bye Birdie (1963) — 10 pts
2. Kiss Me Kate (1953) — 7 pts
3. The Harvey Girls (1946) — 6 pts
4. Viva Las Vegas (1964) — 5 pts
4. Quicker’n a Wink (1940) — 5 pts
6. Scaramouche (1952) — 4 pts
7. Annie Get Your Gun (1950) — 3 pts
8. Love on Tap (1939) — 2 pts
8. What’s Your IQ? Number Two (1940) — 2 pts
10. The Three Musketeers (1948) — 1.5 pts
11. Party Fever (1938) — 1 pt
12. Young Bess (1953) — 0.3 pts