My Criteria for Quality Film Part 2 Essay

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My Criteria for Quality in Film 2

The period between 1970 and 2000 marked a significant change in the film industry as it was the second Golden Age of Hollywood. During this period, filmmaking experienced significant growth due to experimentation with new ideas. The experimentation not only facilitated the production of new movies, but also resulted in changes that included the incorporation of global prestige. This period is regarded as the second Golden Age of Hollywood because the old studio systems that dominated 1930s films broke down totally. In addition, the period was characterized by loosening of restrictions on obscenity, sexual content and violence (A&E Television Networks, 2018). As a result, film directors started making groundbreaking controversial content while others retained a romantic theme in their movies.

One of the directors who played a critical role in ushering the second Golden Age of Hollywood is George Stevens. Stevens shot never-ending number of set-ups in his films. While he didn’t shoot multiple takes of his movie scenes, Stevens made his actors and actresses do scenes from several angles (Eyman, 2004). This would in turn provide him different angles and alternatives of the scene during editing. Through incorporating this aspect in his filmmaking technique, Stevens ended up raising craftmanship to near art. Therefore, Stevens influenced the emergence of the second Golden Age of Hollywood in 1970 through raising the standards of filmmaking.

For this paper, I picked The Only Game in Town (1970), which was the final film directed by George Stevens. This film is regarded as an footnote of Stevens’ remarkable career in the filmmaking industry as a director. The film stars two major actors of the time: Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. Through this film, George Stevens accurately captures the emotional agony and superficial values that characterize the world of gambling. The film is based on a script that provides a thought-provoking exploration of luck, fate and inertia. I learnt about this movie about three years ago when I heard some of my friends talking about it. However, I have never watched this film and I was excited to finally watch it. I watched the movie to help understand why many people argue that it is characterized by miscasting and boring. Prior to watching the movie, I wondered how a movie featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty could be considered boring given the reputation of these actors.

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The Only Game in Town (1970) is a story about Fran Walker (Elizabeth Taylor), an aging Las Vegas chorine who drifts into an affair with Joe Grady (Warren Beatty). While Taylor was only 37 years old when starring as Fran Walker in this movie, she looked much older. Walker drifts into an affair with Grady at a time when he is a compulsive gambler and lounge pianist. During this period, Walker her married lover, Thomas Lockwood, a San Francisco businessman to finalize his divorce. Lockwood had been promising to divorce for five years and when he finally keeps his word, Walker is love with Grady. By this time, Grady had finally amassed enough money for his dream to relocate and start a new life in New York City (Stevens, 1970). Grady now needs to make a decision on whether to marry Walker or continue his career in Manhattan. After winning severally, Grady noticed that winning did not satisfy him and opts to marry Walker.

Stevens tells this story using a combination of techniques in camerawork, screenplay, and sound and editing. One of the things I like about this film is effective camerawork that is combined with good visual composition. Throughout his career as a filmmaker, Stevens was renowned for effective camerawork and visual composition. In his final movie, The Only Game in Town (1970), Stevens does not disappoint as he effectively combines these two elements to enhance the film and tell the story. Effective camerawork in The Only Game in Town (1970) is evident in Stevens’ use of different angles in different scenes. These different angles help to ensure that the movie has some good scenes that depict the romantic story and show the emotional anguish associated with gambling.

Secondly, I like how the director handles sentimental themes in this movie through integration of visuals and music. For instance, Stevens punctuates one of the scenes with a sorrowful trumpet by Maurice Jarre. The integration of this music helps to depict the quality of life in this mundane drama. Stevens’ integration of visuals in The Only Game in Town (1970) is evident in how he shows the turbulence of Las Vegas from the beginning of the movie when Walker opens her curtains (Journeys in Classic Film, 2013). In one of the scenes, the turbulence of Las Vegas is shown using blinding exposure of the.....

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