Charlie Baker

I am absolutely in agreement with @Rinaldo about Two for the Road. I know Mancini had a big success with Peter Gunn, and I find it interesting even after he was so well-established with movies, he went back to TV and such projects as the theme to Newhart and the score for the blockbuster miniseries The Thorn Birds.

It was interesting to hear Olivia Wilde talk about her double feature choices, how Auntie Mame represented a fantasy about a strong, flamboyant woman making her way in an age where such behaviors from a woman were outside the social norm. And Grey Gardens represented an all-too-real look about two such women (who had other problems, to be sure) doing what they could with what they had. Olivia Wilde also said she felt the dramatized versions of the story didn't do them justice. I didn't see the HBO film with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, but for me, the stage musical humanized the Beale ladies in a way the documentary doesn't. I'm glad Ben mentioned that some found the doc exploitative, because I did, as well as creepy, sideshow-ish. But the musical, with a first act that presents a version of the women's glory days, the second based heavily on the doc, the nice score, and the performances of Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, presented them sympathetically. To go a bit deeper and maybe more OT, the new CBS series Elsbeth is kind of fun. The last episode found the quirky character solving a murder in the Hamptons in the winter, and the soundtrack at one point played a snippet of the sad and lovely "Another Winter in a Summer Town" from the GG musical. On to something else--say what one will about Alec Baldwin, his tribute to Mr. Osborne at the end of that Private Screenings interview seemed heartfelt. And I couldn't help but be touched by the messages to him from his Hollywood friends during the end credits, especially since a number of them have fairly recently passed themselves. OK, I'll stop now.

Indiscreet is nothing earthshaking, but I enjoyed it for seeing two mature stars in a romance looking great and working off each other beautifully.

I don't think we've talked about a new TCM series. Tonight is the launch of Two for One, which is sort of a long-delayed follow-up to The Essentials. For some time a short had been running with Martin Scorsese and Stephen Spielberg on growing up with the double feature at a movie theater, and this new series follows up with a filmmaker programming two films and discussing them with Ben. Both Scorsese (first up) and Spielberg are participating, and the others and the films they have chosen look interesting. Two for One Schedule

So Brando is the Star of the Month. Tomorrow (4/5) is what I've christened TCM Mega-birthday day, and so we get Gregory Peck, Spencer Tracy, and Bette Davis movies during the day. The other two notable gentlemen born on this day are not ignored: Walter Huston is great in the great Dodsworth showing at midnight to kick off 4/5. (And Mary Astor, who was not born on 4/5, is in Dodsworth, and then overnight, the documentary about her and two more of her movies are shown.) Melvyn Douglas (another 4/5er) is featured in the first Peck title of the day, The Great Sinner. Then Friday evening is all Billy Wilder. Such riches!

Marlon Brando was born 100 years ago today. TCM has his movies all day.

TCM's only direct competitor, other than streamers, is probably a channel/network just called Movies. It's a broadcast channel (gasp!) that some cable systems carry. There's some overlap in titles--they regularly devote whole evenings to noir--but there's more recent things, and more unearthing of made-for-TV projects. All of which is lead up to my noticing they ran the Franco Zeffirelli Jesus of Nazareth on Easter night. I didn't watch--it ran in its entirety to the wee small hours, as Movies runs commercials. (They also edit for content.) I remember there was controversy about it being blasphemous before it ever aired. But as I recall, once it was shown to be well-made and reverent, that died down. The cast, like in Greatest Story Ever Told, is full of name performers in roles of varying size. In the central role of Jesus was the lesser known British actor Robert Powell, who looks amazingly like the Jesus of paintings that hung in homes all over America, including those of both sets of my grandparents. I remember him being quite good.

A bit OT perhaps--Ezio Pinza got a sitcom called Bonino built around him in the early 50s, in which he played a widowed opera singer raising his children. It only lasted a handful of episodes. I thought I had read that somewhere a good while ago, and sure enough imdb bears it out.

To answer your question, @EtheltoTillie, I would say yes, that is what we are meant to think. Night Watch is the kind of thriller that won't take close scrutiny. I've always found David Raksin's scores effective. (Laura!) I happened to notice that he scored, of all things, the Debbie Reynolds/Shelley Winters horror/suspense vehicle What's the Matter with Helen? when that turned up on the DR tribute.

I caught Toys in the Attic before it vanished from Watch TCM, and I have to say I might like it a bit more than @EtheltoTillie and @Rinaldo. For sure it feels more like Inge than Hellman, and Wendy Hiller's performance was the strongest. And it goes somewhere I wouldn't have expected in spelling out the subtext in the sibling relationships. Also lovely to see Gene Tierney. This week prime time was taken up with Star of the Month Debbie Reynolds. They've taken this approach a few other times in recent years, of compacting the Star of the Month's movies into a few days. But I think I prefer the once a week tradition. This time it would seem to be due to the 31 Days of Oscar ending mid-month.

I must say I was not as enthused as Eddie Muller over this week's Noir Alley Where Danger Lives. But I am glad I saw it because it's a good example of what presences like Robert Mitchum and Claude Rains can bring to less than top-drawer material.

@EtheltoTillie It's this guy: Ron Soble I'm not very familiar with him, but it seemed he worked quite a bit.

There's a line-up of made-for-TV movies from the 70s tonight on TCM. An occasional delve into these, some of which were quite good, at least to younger me, might be nice. Tonight the titles are pretty big ones: Brian's Song, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Duel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, representing breakthroughs for a number of talents involved. I believe they ran Jane Pittman before, the others I don't think so.

Cornel Wilde was Oscar-nominated for playing Chopin in A Song to Remember. Either I didn't know that or I'd forgotten. M. Emmett Walsh was one of those indelible character actors--the ranks of whom seem to be thinning. And of course, What's Up Doc? was part of the TCM Ryan O'Neal tribute. I recorded Nickelodeon, which I remember liking quite a bit, but probably haven't seen since its release. Tonight is the salute to Norman Jewison.

I have not seen Toys in the Attic, but I might have to check it out. I have enjoyed other movies based on Hellman's plays, The Little Foxes and Watch on the Rhine. Geraldine Page was one of a group of Method-y, mannered actors, who could be a bit much, but also could be powerful, I theorize, if a strong director could keep them somewhat in check. There was an evening of Cornel Wilde movies. It was interesting that he was something of a heartthrob romantic lead, who could swashbuckle--he was an elite fencer. As he was becoming established, generally the most impressive thing about him was his physique. He did get to do Leave Her to Heaven, but wanted to stretch himself more, did some modest noirs in the late 40s/early 50s that turned up on Noir Alley. And of course The Greatest Show on Earth. In the 60s he was producing and directing his own projects, aiming for hard-hitting survival stories. The best known was The Naked Prey, which was considered pretty brutal in its day, and it still is a tough one. One I hadn't seen and checked out was Beach Red, about a struggle for a Japanese-held island in WWII. Again, some rough stuff, with an extended opening battle scene that might have influenced movies like Platoon and Saving Private Ryan. It's definitely uneven. Sometimes the limited resources are exposed, but there are some impressive shots in the battle scenes. Some acting, narration, and flashbacks are awkward. It's very much of the time it was made, maybe there's some reflection on Vietnam. And a real effort is made to humanize the Japanese. It doesn't hold up tremendously well, but I found it worth the time. MMV.

I wouldn't post two links to articles so closely together as a rule, but this one I thought was worthwhile and of interest. And again, it's long-ish. From the New York Times Magazine. How the Criterion Collection Became an Arbiter of Taste

A kind of long but very interesting article on the history of Paramount Pictures, as it might be up for sale. Hollywood Reporter on Paramount Pictures

The movie versions of stage musicals that might have been: Doris Day as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific Judy Garland as Rose in Gypsy Angela Lansbury recreating Mame.

Moonstruck is perfectly cast and has one of the most quotable scripts I can think of. What about Allison Janney as Mame? I think I would prefer her in the play as opposed to the musical, but she might be able to pull off the latter.

I liked the story Dave told after the movie about Doris Day thinking she wasn't doing very well in the role; Hitchcock wasn't saying anything to her. She raised the prospect of leaving the movie if he wasn't happy with her work. He assured her she was doing fine, that she'd only hear from him if she wasn't. And I will slip in here once again that she should have been nominated for Love Me or Leave Me.

I mentioned Altman's 3 Women here quite a while ago, so since we're discussing the man's work, and I like the titles listed here, including Popeye, I'll throw it in again. He claimed he dreamed it, it's a weird, quirky meeting of his sensibility with Ingmar Bergman and has excellent work from Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Janice Rule.

Ryan Phillippe was in the ensemble of Crash, which I've never seen. but was very good in Kimberly Peirce's Stop/Loss, which I happened tp see as part of TCM's Women Make Film series a few years ago. He and Channing Tatum prove in that one they've got some chops. Damages was a series that never quite got its due--strong stories filled with strong performances. Thank you for the Altman love, @Rinaldo.

The Country Girl is based on an OK, probably middling Clifford Odets play, and the most memorable thing about the movie to me, having not seen it in years, was Bing Crosby's quite good dramatic performance. Judy Garland in her peak performance on film not winning the Oscar is, as Groucho Marx quipped, "the biggest robbery since [the] Brink's" heist. The Razor's Edge was part of Tyrone Power's lobbying to get more substantial projects at Fox, Nightmare Alley was another. I think similarly Bill Murray's remake was a passion project for him. IMDB says his participation in the original Ghostbusters rested on this movie getting made first. Best to your mother, @Rinaldo!

Glad we're back! There's been some noteworthy stuff on TCM--the Power of Film docuseries is interesting, there were Black History Month-related titles, an evening tribute to Elaine May, with a recent interview. The American Masters documentary on Nichols and May was still on Watch TCM last time I checked, even if her movies are no longer there. Dave Karger has a new book out, 50 Oscar Nights, in which he interviews winners about their experiences the night of.

Norman Jewison Dies at 97 A long life and a terrific, diverse directing career.