TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Rinaldo]

Voiceover, it occurs to me that a good addition to that list, especially as it grows but even now, would be the initial date of each entry, so that person knows on what date a list will be expected of them. For instance:

Quote

Top-Five Poster of the Week:

1 (21 Nov). voiceover (Favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2 (28 Nov). Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3 (5 Dec). Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4 (12 Dec). Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5 (19 Dec) .

6 (26 Dec).

7 (2 Jan).

8 (9 Jan).

(& keep going...)

Something like that?

Edited November 17, 2016 by Rinaldo

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, voiceover said:

The list represents poster name, order, and -- if you wish -- the name of the Top 5 list you want to present.  Every Monday, the next person on the list posts their Top 5 for the week, and everyone is invited to do the same on that week for that poster's topic.

Example:  The first "Five" will be the one I post on Monday the 21st (favorite movies pre-1980). Next week, anyone who wants to post their 5 favorite movies pre-1980 can do so.

The next Monday, crisopera will post the Stanwyck 5, and everyone who wants to also post a Stanwyck 5, will follow suit.

Hope this helps!

OK, anyone else want to take a crack at explaining this to me? Because it still makes no more sense to me than Sanskrit. There must be plainer words that a simple person like me would be able to understand.

That said, voiceover, I appreciate your being willing to try. I'm sure the blame is entirely with me for not understanding. Perhaps someone just slightly less confused than I am will be able to explain it to me so that I get it.

Edited November 17, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

I don't know if I'm the person to do it, because (my apologies) I don't see where the confusion would be. However, in hopes that "other words" (not plainer) may do the trick, I'll try.

voiceover has proposed a weekly diversion for those who read this thread. (Nobody's obliged to participate, of course.) It would work like this:

1. On Monday, the person-of-the-week will post a "top five" list of some sort, related to movies. (See list for some examples.)

2. Others who read this topic will, if they feel like it, chime in with rival lists on the same topic.

3. Lively discussion may ensue as our choices agree or don't, or someone thinks of an item previously forgotten, or whatever.

4. The following Monday: new person, new top-5 list, new discussion.

5. Repeat weekly.

That's all. It remains to be seen whether it will work, but the list represents a reserving of weeks and topics; I'm willing to sign up and see if it does work. (I'm surprised AliShibaz hasn't signed up for "favorite films noir" after bringing up the subject here a couple of times.) That's the best I can explain the idea. I hope it helped.

Edited November 17, 2016 by Rinaldo

[voiceover]

With apologies to anyone I have upset or confused.  This is meant to be something slight & amusing, "in addition to" everything else that gets posted here.  Not "instead of".

Possible that once it starts on Monday with the first Top 5 & responses, it will make more sense.

The date addition is a fine idea; thanks Rinaldo.  Hope it helps to clarify.

[bmoore4026]

Well, I didn't make it through Woodstock.  Right after the skinny dipping sequence, I got bored and started listening to music on Youtube.

[Rinaldo]

At least you held out for the skinny-dipping sequence. I would, too.

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-11-01 at 0:09 AM, bluepiano said:

The two stations that ushered in the era of FM rock in New York (long album cuts, no jabbering DJs and obnoxious jingles) were WPLJ and WNEW. I listened to both, both always to Zacherly's show.

WPLJ launched their rebrand as a rock station in 1971 and took it's new call letters from the 1959 song "White Port Lemon Juice" by the Four Deuces, about a drink which sounds like something only hard core (and penniless) alcoholics would drink. Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention later recorded the song.

Returning to the subject of movies, I have a pretty clear memory of watching such B movie sci-fi classics as The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Queen of Outer Space (with Zsa Zsa Gabor) on Chiller Theater, and also of how Zacherly would splice little cameos of himself into the movies. For instance, in a creature that lived the sewers, they would cut to him in a row boat paddling furiously.

I'd like to recommend two B movies. They are not necessarily great stories. But they represent a kind of hallmark or achievment in these kinds of movies.

The first is: It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955). This was one of the first or perhaps one of the best movies by Ray Harryhausen who pioneered stop-action Science Fantasy movies.

The second is: Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). This is kind of a goofy picture. But I was 9 years old when I first saw it and it scared the living daylights out of me. It's about a group of aliens who land on Earth and who go around killing people by pointing a kind of ray gun at them. When they pull the trigger, the gun makes a kind of sound like "Whoo whoo whoo" and all that is left of the victim is their skeleton. It's very hokey. But it gave me horrible nightmares for many years and I think many of you may enjoy it.

[ratgirlagogo]

10 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

Top Five Poster of the Week:

1. voiceover (Favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2. Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3. Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4. Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5.ratgirlagogo (favorite jungle girl films)

6.

7.

8.

(& keep going...)

or maybe favorite Gene Autry musicals. or favorite pre-1950 exploitation films. or favorite post-1950 exploitation films.  What the hell, I love you all to pieces so I'll play along but christ  I hate top-whatever lists. I love way too much stuff!   Every ten years the Sight and Sound poll makes me insane for weeks.  Hey, I've got one: top three movies in the Taken franchise! (okay, I stole that one from Aziz Ansari).

[bmoore4026]

2 hours ago, AliShibaz said:

The second is: Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). This is kind of a goofy picture. But I was 9 years old when I first saw it and it scared the living daylights out of me. It's about a group of aliens who land on Earth and who go around killing people by pointing a kind of ray gun at them. When they pull the trigger, the gun makes a kind of sound like "Whoo whoo whoo" and all that is left of the victim is their skeleton. It's very hokey. But it gave me horrible nightmares for many years and I think many of you may enjoy it.

A favorite MST3K episode for me.  Teenagers should have had a billion quotation marks around it and "Sentence you to tortcha!" has become a very memorable line.  I also can't get over the fact that the lead actress kind of looks like Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII.  And, yes, the ray gun that killed people, leaving only their skeletons, could be seen as cheesy but it is very disturbing if you think about it.  It's just bones.  The ones that died will have to have closed casket funerals.  Think of what the families would be going through :(

[bluepiano]

1 hour ago, bmoore4026 said:

And, yes, the ray gun that killed people, leaving only their skeletons, could be seen as cheesy but it is very disturbing if you think about it.  It's just bones. 

I believe that the Martians in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks were using the same ray guns. But they bought them at a thrift shop.

Giant on TCM. Again. This time as part of a Rock Hudson Day. As I posted when it was on just a few weeks ago, must be the most shown movie on the network.

Looking at the TCM schedule today, it appears the theme is movies about people who marry to get their hands on money. I have to salute the TCM programmers. That takes more creativity (and research) then having a featured star or genre, or movies with a particular word in the title.

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-10-06 at 5:38 PM, kscoaster said:

For those cord-cutters who miss TCM:

www.filmstruck.com

I cut my cable several years ago and recently I have experienced a few different kinds of problems that seem perhaps, as if they were caused by some of the cable companies in an attempt to make me wish I would undo that decision and that I would re-subscribe (is there any such word?) to cable.

I would love to know more about Filmstruck. In particular, I'd love to know just what films are available and whether I can watch them at any time or whether I have to wait until a specific time before I can see them.

Thank you very much for posting that link. I would never go back to my cable company again. So many problems. So many bad feelings. But an alternative would just be so very wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-09-13 at 6:36 PM, Crisopera said:

I think you can add Harrison Ford to the older-man group of "real movie stars." 

And Colin Firth, Robert De Niro.

[Padma]

6 hours ago, AliShibaz said:

And Colin Firth, Robert De Niro.

It's true "older man" does apply to all of them, but I'm guessing Firth would hope 50-somethings wouldn't be on the same list as 70-somethings.! Firth is older, but still "middle aged". The others are solidly "seniors", possibly even "elderly".

That's a fun idea, voiceover, although I haven't thought of a list of my own to add yet.  (Top 5 Ronald Reagan movies? Top 5 musical biopics?) I've thought of a couple of categories but there are either too few or too many good ones, or things that would be too familiar to people here. Hmm. I'll keep thinking....)

For me, the initial confusion of the idea was just from the title "Top-Five Poster of the Week" made it seem like the emphasis was on the "Poster" (person) rather than the list of films they were choosing.  You know, kind of like we were choosing the top five people posting here in a given week.  But...it's all clear now! I'm looking forward to hearing about some good films.

[voiceover]

15 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

or maybe favorite Gene Autry musicals. or favorite pre-1950 exploitation films. or favorite post-1950 exploitation films.  What the hell, I love you all to pieces so I'll play along but christ  I hate top-whatever lists. I love way too much stuff!   

Bwah! thanks for tolerating those among us who over-identify with Rob (the John Cusack character) in High Fidelity -- the man who managed Top 5 lists out of thin air.

Here's a perspective that might soothe: such lists are a way to discover heretofore unknown treasure in the cinematic landscape!

(And I renounce myself to the Great God Orwell (& his list of 6 ways to improve your writing) for that ridiculously overdone sentence.)

ETA: Padma, I think I could've spared the confusion by punctuating it differently, because I can see how easily it can be misinterpreted.  Should be:

"The 'Top Five' poster for that week..."

-- better? ?

Edited November 18, 2016 by voiceover

[Rinaldo]

Or, as I did in my recopying of the list (which wasn't copied into the next printing), hyphenate Top-Five together, to make it clear that the phrase modifies "poster." One of the 3 macros I have saved for comments on my students' draft essays tells them "compound adjectives must be hyphenated together." It's all about clarity.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Rinaldo

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/17/2016 at 3:50 PM, Rinaldo said:

I don't know if I'm the person to do it, because (my apologies) I don't see where the confusion would be. However, in hopes that "other words" (not plainer) may do the trick, I'll try...

In fact, this helped. And a big source of help was your post previous to this, in which you said the list should include the successive Monday dates (and in which you provided an example of same). Once I saw the succession of dates, I began to get it.

And Padma's punctuation edit was also essential to my understanding the concept. Because yes, the way it was originally presented, it absolutely looked to me like we were rating the best five posters of any given week. It wasn't even ambiguous. I'm amazed any of you thought anything else, although some of you did see the actual intention.

But re to-hyphen-or-not-to-hyphen, re to-bold-or-not-to-bold, may I suggest a title that avoids confusion altogether, in a way that will be immune to punctuational and typographical nuance: YOUR TOP FIVE.  And everyone, please do adhere to Rinaldo's suggestion to start every entry on the list with the Monday date on which that topic will begin.

P.S. As an alternate to YOUR TOP FIVE, even better as a title might be MY TOP FIVE.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[prican58]

Sorry for the mix up above. 

Is there a conspiracy or something? Somehow I managed to miss The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown this Halloween on tv as I didn't see any promos for it anywhere and again I see no Thanksgiving airings of Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Any Tri state NY area folks have any idea if it will air on ch 11? It isn't on TCM 's schedule nor AMC. Last year it was the same, I believe.

Must I wait till Christmas?

[ratgirlagogo]

On 11/18/2016 at 5:59 AM, AliShibaz said:

I would love to know more about Filmstruck. In particular, I'd love to know just what films are available and whether I can watch them at any time or whether I have to wait until a specific time before I can see them.

It does look interesting - I assume you've looked at the site and seen what's available so far.  It looks like it's just a small fraction of the Criterion Collection for now (which I assume will expand as the site gains subscribers).

Oh, and we just got access to Watch TCM (YAY!!!!  finally!!!!) since Time Warner got bought out by Charter Spectrum but haven't really played around with it much, yet.

Edited November 20, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[voiceover]

The first of what I hope will be many, Weekly Top Fives.  Note the theme and feel free to join in & post your own list of five favorite movies (or 4, or 3, or 2, etc.). I cut off this one at 1980, partly because this is the classic movie thread, after all (but we'll get there later, I'm sure).  I know list-making is not everyone's thing, but I'm pretty sure I was ranking crayon colors in kindergarten.  And I'm looking forward to finding out all your #1s.

My Top Five Movies (Silents -- 1980)

5.  The Jungle Book (1967): If movie-love is personal, than this one is the closest of them all.  It's my family; it's my brother's childhood nickname; it's the one-liners from the film that my father would weave into correspondence years later.  No VHS in the 60s, so I memorized most of it thanks to the LP, which had scenes of dialogue bridged with Sebastian Cabot (Bagheera)'s narration.  And a TCM fave, George Saunders, was the elegant villain of the piece. Look at Shere Khan closely.  He's got Saunders' nose.

4.  The Sting (1973): This was my #1 for years and years.  Great story; terrific end; that perfect chem between Redford & Newman ("Gladda meetcha kid, you're a real horse's ass!"); the Scott Joplin soundtrack!!! AND...the poker game on the train.  A thing of beauty.

3. Annie Hall (1977): The godfather of the modern romantic comedy.  It introduced neurosis into the boy-girl story!  I use the scene on her balcony in film classes while explaining "off-the-nose dialogue": Alvy & Annie blather away about photography, while sub-titles reveal what the two are actually thinking ("I wonder what she looks like naked?").

2. Pride and Prejudice (1940): I've listened to the purist criticism of this film for so long that I'm deaf to it.  In my eyes, it's a perfect film, filled with perfect performances of perfect scenes ("I'm afraid, Mr Darcy, that the honor of standing up with you, is more than I can bear!") You tell 'im, Greer.

1. His Girl Friday (1940): Finally, a Cary Grant movie where he's the pursuer.  And who wouldn't come after Rosalind Russell's Hildy, who gave as good as she got -- better! and looked so good doing it.  It's not just the dialogue I love ("I've still got those dimples...and in the same place!").  It's how the heroine is so meant to be the profession she's trying to abandon.  There's a nanosecond when you figure she can still make a break for the Life of a Wife.  Then she gang-tackles a runaway source and wrestles him to the ground.  No going back after that one.

[Athena]

Quick Tip: You can notify your fellow posters with the @username function. Sometimes it can be finicky, but if you slowly type the @ symbol plus the start of the username, you should be able to select it.

Sadly, we can no longer pin posts on top of threads, but the dates and reposting @voiceover's post a few times can be helpful. Thanks all!

[Sharpie66]

My Top Favorite Movies (Today's list--it changes from day to day!)--no particular order:

The Sting - The first grown-up movie I ever saw in the theater, when I was seven years old. I know I've posted this story here before, but I saw it in my hometown of Joliet, Illinois, which is where the film opens. When that title card popped up with the date and place of the film's setting, the crowd erupted in a way I had never heard before or since, and that realization of what film can mean to people really stuck with me. The gorgeousness of the period costumes and settings, the trickiness of the script that demanded you follow it, even at age 7, and the breathtaking beauty of both Paul Newman and Robert Redford imprinted this film on my psyche, and gave me a lifelong love of both conmen films and Newman and Redford, both together and separate (I had a six-foot tall poster of Redford on the back of my bedroom door when I was 12 years old).

Singin' in the Rain - As much as I love Astaire and Rogers' work from the '30s, and both Astaire's and Kelly's films from the '40s, this one is the pinnacle of movie musicals, and the reason is the setting and the script. I am a sucker for films set in the Roaring Twenties, and to have this one portray the conversion from silents to talkies was brilliant. Also, it has some of the best quotes ever for a musical, and most of them come from Lina Lamont. "I am a bright shining star in the cinema fir-ma-mint. It says so, right here." "I make more than...Calvin Coolidge! Put together!!!"

A Hard Day's Night - The best musical from the rock era. Alun Owen deserves a hell of lot more credit than he normally gets from viewers (even though it was an Oscar-nominated script), because the Beatles' line deliveries are so convincingly improv-sounding, but he wrote damn good lines for them. And each one of them shows off such a convincing character that it solidified them in pop culture as such for the rest of their lives. As wacky as Richard Lester's direction is at times, some of my favorite moments are the quieter ones, especially Ringo's walkabout with the camera.

To Kill a Mockingbird - IMO, the best book adaptation ever made (and this is from someone who saw the Lord of the Rings films a grand total of 30 times in the theaters all told). Just brilliant, from the casting to the writing to the setting. I think my favorite scene might be the only one that isn't in the book, when the children have gone to bed but are talking to each other through their open windows. Scout asks Jem if he remembers their mother, and asks him for details ("Was she pretty?" "Yes." "Did you love her?"), all while Atticus is listening from the porch. Breaks my heart every time.

Mary Poppins - This was the iconic film of my childhood, even though it was released two years before I was born. I grew up watching this movie every time it was on tv, and when I had the utter thrill of actually meeting Julie Andrews in 2000, all I could think was, "I'm standing three feet away from Mary Freaking Poppins!!!!!" "Feed the Birds" never fails to make me cry, and I just grin when I hear Mary Poppins completely confound Mr. Banks. Dick Van Dyke's accent may be atrocious, but you cannot deny his utter charm on screen.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Sharpie66

[AuntiePam]

On 10/15/2016 at 8:05 PM, Rinaldo said:

Isn't that the truth! When students ask me now what was the last musical that seemed to be as omnipresent as Hamilton does now, I have to go back (with all acknowledgment to Dolly and Fiddler and the Franco-Brit imports of the 80s) to My Fair Lady. That had the advantage of the live variety shows that were all over TV then -- I knew there was a thing called My Fair Lady and a girl named Julie Andrews who sang this thing called "I Could Have Danced All Night" (which she did, on Sid Caesar and Ed Sullivan and you name it; always in a grand ball setting that led to confusion when people actually saw the show and it had nothing to do with that), long before I knew what it was and what the story was.

 

Apologies for quoting from four pages back but I just discovered this thread.  I grew up in a small midwest town.  I watched those variety shows and heard the songs over and over.  I'd heard of Broadway but didn't know what it was, and I had no idea that those singable songs came from Broadway shows.  I remember singing "On the street where you live" as I was walking to school and it wasn't until many years later that I learned where it came from.  

If music from My Fair Lady made it to a 9-year-old in Iowa, it was definitely omnipresent. 

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, voiceover said:

My Top Five Movies (Silents -- 1980)

Hi @voiceover. I don't want to be a pain in the butt--and I do appreciate your adopting my suggested title going forward of "My Top Five"--but I'm confused again, this time by the word "Silents." The movies you listed aren't silents (and of course the cut-off date of 1980 isn't consistent with silent films either). So what does that word mean in this context?

[Padma]

3 hours ago, voiceover said:

The first of what I hope will be many, Weekly Top Fives.  Note the theme and feel free to join in & post your own list of five favorite movies (or 4, or 3, or 2, etc.). I cut off this one at 1980, partly because this is the classic movie thread, after all (but we'll get there later, I'm sure).  I know list-making is not everyone's thing, but I'm pretty sure I was ranking crayon colors in kindergarten.  And I'm looking forward to finding out all your #1s.

My Top Five Movies (Silents -- 1980)

5.  The Jungle Book (1967): If movie-love is personal, than this one is the closest of them all.  It's my family; it's my brother's childhood nickname; it's the one-liners from the film that my father would weave into correspondence years later.  No VHS in the 60s, so I memorized most of it thanks to the LP, which had scenes of dialogue bridged with Sebastian Cabot (Bagheera)'s narration.  And a TCM fave, George Saunders, was the elegant villain of the piece. Look at Shere Khan closely.  He's got Saunders' nose.

4.  The Sting (1973): This was my #1 for years and years.  Great story; terrific end; that perfect chem between Redford & Newman ("Gladda meetcha kid, you're a real horse's ass!"); the Scott Joplin soundtrack!!! AND...the poker game on the train.  A thing of beauty.

3. Annie Hall (1977): The godfather of the modern romantic comedy.  It introduced neurosis into the boy-girl story!  I use the scene on her balcony in film classes while explaining "off-the-nose dialogue": Alvy & Annie blather away about photography, while sub-titles reveal what the two are actually thinking ("I wonder what she looks like naked?").

2. Pride and Prejudice (1940): I've listened to the purist criticism of this film for so long that I'm deaf to it.  In my eyes, it's a perfect film, filled with perfect performances of perfect scenes ("I'm afraid, Mr Darcy, that the honor of standing up with you, is more than I can bear!") You tell 'im, Greer.

1. His Girl Friday (1940): Finally, a Cary Grant movie where he's the pursuer.  And who wouldn't come after Rosalind Russell's Hildy, who gave as good as she got -- better! and looked so good doing it.  It's not just the dialogue I love ("I've still got those dimples...and in the same place!").  It's how the heroine is so meant to be the profession she's trying to abandon.  There's a nanosecond when you figure she can still make a break for the Life of a Wife.  Then she gang-tackles a runaway source and wrestles him to the ground.  No going back after that one.

Hi Voiceover--Nice list!  I'm not sure what my top five movies would be, but I -do- like all of the ones you've chosen. (Glad to see Disney musicals making it into your top five list and Sharpie's. I would -have- to include one on my list, too, but it would be hard to choose. Even would be hard to choose a "Top Five Disney Musicals". "The Jungle Book" is wonderful, but I might have to go with Sharpie66 for "Mary Poppins" as it had everything--singing, dancing, live action, animation, range of emotions, good acting, some great songs, even a little history worked in--and so much fun--Plus it was based on books I loved.)

Anyway, I wanted to note that two of your films have two of my "favorite movie moments of all time" in them.  "Pride and Prejudice" it has my "favorite romantic moment"--that moment when Darcy, so arrogant, comes to see Lizzy and she, like we, is wondering what awful thing he's going to say now. Instead, he drops his guard--Olivier makes the shift to completely vulnerable so beautifully--and tells her he's in love with her.  Wonderfully done. 

The second "favorite film moment" is in Annie Hall.  Not sure what I'd categorize it as, but I love where Woody and Annie are in the line for the movie and the pretentious guy ahead of them is expounding on Marshall McLuhan when out steps the real McLuhan to set him straight on his work. Ha! There's a scene is so familiar on a million different subjects--and if ONLY we could get Shakespeare, Roosevelt, Einstein--whoever--to step up and tell us what he -really- meant when someone has been pompously droning on about it!  Maybe it's my favorite "If ONLY..." scene from a movie.

Great choices. Thanks for doing this. 

Edited November 21, 2016 by Padma

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-09-13 at 8:12 PM, MissT said:

I think Robert Duvall is up there.  He's an excellent actor.   Remember he played Boo in To Kill A Mockingbird.  

I do like Tom Hanks.  I remember him starting out with Bosom Buddies.  

But I could also include Robert Redford. 

I'd like to say a few words about Robert Duvall. One of my favorite movies he made is "Tango Assasination" (2002). It wasn't necessariyl a fabulous movie. But the reason I liked it so much was because it co-stars his wife (who is from South America) and I got the romantic notion somehow that they both love to dance the Tango and that he met her on a trip to South America and they fell in love and married and made this movie as a love story to each other. I have no idea how much truth there is in that. But they sure gave off that "love" vibration in this movie and it almost brought tears to my eyes. I am about the same age as RD and I was so very happy to see that he found his love at his advanced age. It made me think that there just may be some hope for me after all. Also .... this lady is an incredible knockout and an incredible dancer too.

My favorite RD movie is probably "Tender Mercies" (1983). Again, it may not have been his very finest work. But it must be close. I love this movie because it made me feel just what it's like to meet that perfect somebody and fall in love and marry - no matter how old you are.

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-09-02 at 3:46 AM, bluepiano said:

Preston Sturges night on TCM. Sheer, unadulterated joy.

I'd like to say a (very) few words about Preston Sturges.

One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Lady Eve" (1941). It starred Barbara Stanwyck & Henry Fonda. I guess it should be called a comedy. But it can also be called a Love Story. It's one of my all-time favorites. But it's also one of my all-time favorite love stories. It is just Great! Great! Great!  It was directed by Preston Sturges and it's very typical of his style for a wacky screwball comedy love story".  However, it is so much more than just a comedy love story.

Another film, somewhat similar to The Lady Eve is Gambit (2012) starring Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz. It is usually rated kind of low which just takes my breath away because IMHO, it should be rated along the lines of a "Wonderful Wonderful Comedy Love  Story".

If you look up this film in the IMDB data base, it is rated only 5.7. The average film is rated 7.0. A film rated at 6.0 is considered kind of lousy. IMHO, this film deserves a rating of 8.0 or higher. 5.7 is just ridiculous. I sincerely hope some of you might try to watch this film. I'd love to hear your opinions. I really think this film is so much better than 5.7. What a crap rating!!!

Stanley Tucci is also in this movie. IMO he is extremely under-rated. He is really and truly great. In this film as well as so many others. I sincerely hope you get the chance someday to take a look at this film. If you like love stories and/or comedies, I think you will be very happy to invest some time to watch this one. I predict you will love it!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033804/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Edited November 21, 2016 by AliShibaz

[voiceover]

1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

Hi @voiceover. I don't want to be a pain in the butt--and I do appreciate your adopting my suggested title going forward of "My Top Five"--but I'm confused again, this time by the word "Silents." The movies you listed aren't silents (and of course the cut-off date of 1980 isn't consistent with silent films either). So what does that word mean in this context?

It means that I have specified that for this week of Top 5, your top five favorites are limited to choosing from films made before 1980.  Which would include silent film.  I love many silent films, but none are in my top 5.

[Rinaldo]

My Top Five Movies Before 1980

My list changes all the time, and will undoubtedly change again. Some real favorite titles (Tom Jones, North by Northwest) and directors (Sturges, Altman) have appeared on it in the past but at this moment don't make the cut for whatever reason. And I admit I'm not including any early musicals because that's my own list responsibility for next week and I don't want to repeat so soon. I also feel apologetic that I don't have anything at all pre-1955 here; again, a longer list would encompass those decades and gain me more cultural credit (I really do adore Citizen Kane, but it doesn't make my special 5 at the moment). But these are movies that I keep returning to, that I love to cuddle up with, so to speak. And I'm embarrassed that they seem to cover only about a decade, but here goes:

5. The Late Show (1977): This is Altman-adjacent, at least; he produced it, giving Robert Benton his first chance to direct. It's up-to-date L.A. noir, with Art Carney an over-the-hill private eye and Lily Tomlin a new-age flake whose cat is missing. The pairing really works, and oddball characters keep turning up, played by the likes of Bill Macy, Eugene Roche, and Joanna Cassidy. There's something lovable and unique about the friendship that develops between the main pair, and I always enjoy returning to it.

4. Sleeping Beauty (1959): I know it's not the most admired or best-balanced Disney animated feature, or the most commercially successful (indeed, it lost so much money after its long development period, they made no more fairy tales for three decades). But I just love it. Every frame is a feast for the eyes, what with its unique rectilineal design concept by Eyvind Earle, the soundtrack glows with color and Tchaikovsky (and the voice of Mary Costa), and it's some kind of ultimate in real splendor on the animated screen.

3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969): I had read and loved the Muriel Spark novella in my freshman lit class, but the previews for the movie were off-putting, with their attempts to make it seem "relevant" to the current student activism ("out of her classroom comes a whole rebellious generation of Miss Brodies!"). But when I actually went to see it, it seemed such a perfect embodiment of the story I loved that I sat through it twice (you could do that then). The idea of a charismatic teacher (at a 1930s Edinburgh girls' school) who is actually a kind of monster, and the varying reactions of those who know her is a powerful one, and powerfully dramatized here (directed by Ronald Neame). Maggie Smith has seldom been given such a dazzling series of Maggie Smith witticisms (right out of the book) to utter. And in the final showdown she has a worthy sparring partner in Pamela Franklin (all four students are marvelous, and I'm fooled every time by the way they age ten years onscreen, passing through adolescence before our eyes), as she does in earlier scenes with headmistress Celia Johnson.

2. Oliver! (1968): A last triumph for Carol Reed and for the 1950s-60s wave of big-budget musicals. Lionel Bart's score never sounded better than when rendered by this excellent cast and scored by John Green. And the Dickens story, aided by the best use I've ever seen of stylized settings mingled with realistic ones, has never come across so memorably. Even those who think they hate musicals ought to give this a try -- I've seen conversions happen.

1. Two for the Road (1967): What can I say? I'm a sucker for an ingenious structural premise (see also Gambit, Unfaithfully Yours, and the stage musicals Company and Follies), but it's more than that. It's Stanley Donen's smooth direction of Frederic Raphael's screenplay telling the ups and downs of a marriage not in chronological order but in geographical order (five car trips from north to south through France, intercut). And it's certainly the magic of Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. There was never any doubt for me what my #1 choice would be.

[Milburn Stone]

22 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

I'm a sucker for an ingenious structural premise (see also Gambit...

Gambit has now come up for completely unrelated reasons twice in four hours--the remake and the original! What are the odds? I share your affection for the original.

Also, I know a guy who went out with Mary Costa...

[voiceover]

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow TCMers!  May you joy in the day and your choice of pie.

[Crisopera]

A late entry in this week's Top Five...

As Rinaldo said, my list changes all the time, and everything but 1 and 2 may be different tomorrow, but here they are:

5.  Show People (1928)  I wanted to include a silent film, and this is genuinely funny.  You can see why Marion Davies could have been a star even without Hearst's help, and the rest of the cast is great as well.  Nicely directed by King Vidor, who's not usually associated with comedy, but obviously had a rapport with Davies (he directed her in several other movies).

4.  Now, Voyager (1942)  For me, this is the ultimate "Woman's Picture" and includes one of Bette Davis's best ever performances (maybe her best). Paul Henreid is a terrific leading man for her, gentle and supportive without being weak.  And it never fails to bring me to sniffles.

3.  The Lady Eve (1941)  Sublime.  I had to include at least one Barbara Stanwyck movie, since she's my favorite actress of all time, and this is perfection.  She and Fonda had perfect chemistry.  I love most of Preston Sturges' movies, but this one is my favorite.

2.  Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945) - my entryway into my love of foreign films (particularly French).  I saw it in high school (on the local PBS station) and fell utterly in love.  Made under the German occupation of Paris, this is one of the most romantic movies ever made.  Marcel Carne directs Jacques Prevert's script with a full coterie of great French actors.  I was lucky enough to live and work in Paris during the early 80s, and there was a theatre that played it every weekend, so i saw it several times.  "C'est si simple, l'amour."  Unforgettable.

1.  Singin' in the Rain (1952) (Hello, Sharpie66!)  I love musicals and this is the greatest ever.  The perfect Comden & Green script!  The perfect cast!  The perfect direction and choreography!  The perfect art direction and costumes!  How could it be better?

Jeez, I could make this a top 100 list!

Edited November 26, 2016 by Crisopera

[mariah23]

Another late entry to the top five (in no particular order ) . ..

1. The Thin Man (1934)-Now that's how you write a married couple.  No one has come close since then.  My Mom cannot wait until the Thin Man marathon on December 23rd.

2. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)-one of the funniest movies ever made, and the audacity of Preston Sturges making this during WWII.  That took some balls!

3. The Godfather  (1972)-Perfection . 

4. Stage Door (1937)-this is a true chick flick.

5. Singin' in the Rain  (1952)-one of the best  musicals ever made and one of the funniest . 

[prican58]

Watching an episode of the 1970's show Police Story and I see an old movie connection. The episode stars Chuck Connors (an excellent actor IMO who played evil like nobody's business and could play good/nice/funny) and Sly Stallone as his new young partner whose name is Elmore but everybody calls him "Rocky".  Just too coincidental. 

[Rinaldo]

Great lists, @Crisopera and @mariah23! Several titles that I seriously considered for my own. (Hard to resist Singin' in the Rain or deny the greatness of The Godfather, and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is my one time to genuinely enjoy Betty Hutton.)

Edited November 27, 2016 by Rinaldo
I thought I was up next, and I'm not!

[Milburn Stone]

@voiceover, can you present the most current version of the list of lists? I have an idea for one, but I don't want to presume I have the latest version and don't want to add in my name and topic ahead of someone who's already entered a name and topic.

(Or are we just supposed to tell you what our topic is, and then you add it to the list?)

Edited November 27, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

I'm going to repeat the list I last gave, adding in @ratgirlagogo's name, as this format has the crucial hyphen, and the dates.

 

Top-Five Poster of the Week:

1 (21 Nov). @voiceover (Favorite films before 1980)

2 (28 Nov). @Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3 (5 Dec). @Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4 (12 Dec). @Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5 (19 Dec). @ratgirlagogo (Favorite jungle-girl films)

6 (26 Dec).

7 (2 Jan).

8 (9 Jan).

[Milburn Stone]

15 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

I'm going to repeat the list I last gave, adding in @ratgirlagogo's name, as this format has the crucial hyphen, and the dates.

 

Top-Five Poster of the Week:

1 (21 Nov). @voiceover (Favorite films before 1980)

2 (28 Nov). @Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3 (5 Dec). @Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4 (12 Dec). @Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5 (19 Dec). @ratgirlagogo (Favorite jungle-girl films)

6 (26 Dec). @Milburn Stone (Films Only I Like)

7 (2 Jan).

8 (9 Jan).

Thanks, @Rinaldo. I just added my name at the #6 spot.

[Padma]

Hopefully someone will go after me so not to end on a downbeat note. I almost chose "musical bio-pix prior to 1960) but cynicism/skepticism is nearer my heart at the moment and there are a lot of good films that cross genres, are excellent and engaging, but wouldn't top more general categories.  Signed up below.

Top-Five Poster of the Week:

1 (21 Nov). @voiceover (Favorite films before 1980)

2 (28 Nov). @Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3 (5 Dec). @Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4 (12 Dec). @Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5 (19 Dec). @ratgirlagogo (Favorite jungle-girl films)

6 (26 Dec). @Milburn Stone (Films Only I Like)

7 (2 Jan).   @Padma  (My 5 Favorite Cynical/Skeptical Films)

8 (9 Jan).

[Bastet]

My Top Five Movies (Silent Era Through 1980):

I have to start by saying this is nearly impossible; The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby will always be on the list, and by instituting the 1980 cut-off, the third film that would always be on my top five list - Thelma & Louise - is eliminated, but the other three spots have at least ten films battling each other.  Based on today's mood:

1. The Thin Man - My most-watched film (and that's saying something, as I have quite a handful of films I've seen so many times I can recite along verbatim).  Myrna Loy and William Powell, martinis, playful banter, Asta -- I love it all.

2. Bringing Up Baby - Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, screwball comedy (and George)?  Yes, please!  Watching this movie can instantly snap me out of all but the worst moods.

3. Libeled Lady - My favorite of the non-Thin Man collaborations between Loy and Powell.  Screwball is generally the only way I enjoy romantic comedy, and the cast and script make this one of my favorites.

4. 9 to 5 - Between the cast and the explicitly feminist viewpoint, this film had me at hello, but add in highly quotable dialogue and wacky hijinks and this becomes another film I can recite verbatim.

5. Psycho - My stumbling block with many Hitchcock films is the main female character, so maybe the fact she's dispatched with early on in this one helps it work so well for me.  At any rate, it's one of my favorite horror films, thanks largely to Anthony Perkins' performance.

[chitowngirl]

I lurk here a lot but wanted to join in-

1) Auntie Mame-always and forever #1

2)Singing in the Rain-(in A flat!) All the reasons have already been listed, but not mentioned yet is the fact that if you take away all the musical numbers, this is still a great movie.

3)The Gold Rush-My favorite of Chaplin's

4)Fred and Ginger-Can't pick a favorite here

5)a post 1980 favorite, The Birdcage. I'll watch it no matter where it is in the movie, even if there's only 15 minutes left. The genius to me is that Robin Williams and Nathan Lane could have switched roles and it would be just as good. 

Honorable mention-Clueless. Just captures this period in time perfectly.

[Rinaldo]

The mention of Anthony Perkins reminds of a recent viewing (not on TCM, but I'm sure they've shown it) of The Matchmaker. This 1958 movie never gets talked about, it seems (as such, it earned a place in Douglas Brode's Lost Films of the Fifties -- "lost" in the sense that they've vanished from popular discussion). But it's just delightful.

It's based, of course, on the Thornton Wilder play that eventually became source material for Hello, Dolly! (And which itself has an illustrious European pedigree, though the matchmaker herself is Wilder's contribution.) Joseph Anthony directed, and John Michael Hayes adapted the play, in a way that has fun with its theatrical roots (constant breaking of the fourth wall, and outright statements that this is a movie). Though it is opened up for the camera, there are very few characters beyond the main five: Shirley Booth as a low-key, homey Dolly Levi unlike any other; Paul Ford perfectly cast as Horace Vandergelder; Shirley MacLaine and Robert Morse (the only holdover from the Broadway cast) as Irene Malloy and Barnaby Tucker.

But the special joy, and the reason I thought of it here, is Anthony Perkins as Cornelius Hackl. He's warm and spontaneous and utterly charming. Anyone watching will see why he was so very popular in movies for a decade or two. Though so different in onscreen persona from Paul Newman, their peak popularity onscreen covered much the same period, and in part for much the same reason: in a congenial role, they were just about impossible to dislike.

[Sharpie66]

7 hours ago, Padma said:

Hopefully someone will go after me so not to end on a downbeat note. I almost chose "musical bio-pix prior to 1960) but cynicism/skepticism is nearer my heart at the moment and there are a lot of good films that cross genres, are excellent and engaging, but wouldn't top more general categories.  Signed up below.

Top-Five Poster of the Week:

1 (21 Nov). @voiceover (Favorite films before 1980)

2 (28 Nov). @Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3 (5 Dec). @Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4 (12 Dec). @Sharpie66 (Favorite villains/antagonists in pre-1980 films)

5 (19 Dec). @ratgirlagogo (Favorite jungle-girl films)

6 (26 Dec). @Milburn Stone (Films Only I Like)

7 (2 Jan).   @Padma  (My 5 Favorite Cynical/Skeptical Films)

8 (9 Jan).

Edited to tweak my category in #4--thinking about it, I came up with much better options in the 1960s and '70s! Also, decided to expand to include antagonists so I can include one of my all-time faves.

[SeanC]

I rented Ninotchka from iTunes earlier this year, and the opportunity to see it again after they aired it on Sunday morning (I DVR'd it and watched it with my mother later, who hadn't seen it before).  It allowed me to firm up my opinion of it, and I decided the opening minutes are stronger than I initially perceived, so I certify it as my favourite Lubitsch production, of the four I've seen.

Top Five pre-1980 Films: (in chronological order)

1.  The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943):  Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's best film, and a rare early colour film that has semi-credible aging makeup (it would take decades for Hollywood to get nearly as good at this in colour as some of the Golden Age films were in black and white).  It's perhaps not as visually innovative as the directors' late 40s output (e.g., The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus), but the superb performances of Roger Livesey and Anton Walbrook bring it an unmatched humanity.  And Walbrook's character is a brave creation, given the time period the film was made and the opposition it faced.

2.  It’s A Wonderful Life (1946):  Yes, the cliched Christmas perennial.  One of the films that became a standard for all the right reasons, featuring all the best elements of Frank Capra's prewar films, and Jimmy Stewart's best performance.  I try to watch it every Christmas.

3.  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964):  Few directors ever used colour as boldly as Jacques Demy did, and Umbrellas is the best example of this.  Every time I watch it it takes a few minutes to get into the groove of the sung-through format, but it's a very simple story told very powerfully.  With a slim run-time and a wholly original score, it makes a sharp contrast to the prevailing trends in Hollywood musicals the same decade.  And as for Catherine Deneuve, well, the world would never be the same.

4.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975):  The funniest film ever made.  The first time I saw it, I laughed so hard that my ribs hurt.

5.  Network (1976):  It's easy to see why Paddy Chayefsky was such an influence on Aaron Sorkin, as they share many of the same strengths -- and to an extent, the same weaknesses, as there's more than a little "damn kids, get off my lawn!" to this film, depending on how seriously you think we're meant to take William Holden's character's complaints.  But it's a bracing, brilliant movie, with perhaps the best dialogue ever put on film, and delivered by one of the best casts ever assembled.

Edited November 28, 2016 by SeanC

[Crisopera]

TOP FIVE LESSER-KNOWN BARBARA STANWYCK FILMS

I decided to modify this slightly, as I figure anyone who frequents this board has already seen her most famous movies - Double Indemnity, The Lady Eve, Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, and probably even Babyface, one of the movies that brought down the wrath of the Production Code. 

I think Barbara Stanwyck is the most versatile of all the Golden Age Hollywood actresses.  (She's also my favorite.)  Bette Davis may have outdone her in emotional impact, Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert were maybe better comic actresses, but none of them could have done Stanwyck's wide range.  (Davis was awful in comedy, and Lombard and Colbert were kind of stiff in drama.)  Stanwyck could do it all - nobody had that combination of toughness and vulnerability (nobody cried like Stanwyck!) and brilliant comic finesse.  So I'm going to give my favorites of her lesser-known pictures in various genres, which I'll match with her better-known movies.

5  Noir - if you've seen Double Indemnity, take a look at The File on Thelma Jordon (1950), directed by Robert Siodmak.  She plays an ambiguous woman (is she a femme fatale?), and has the benefit of a well-cast (for once!) Wendell Corey as a weak-willed ADA.  She did quite a few other good noirs, including the entertaining The Strange Love of Martha Ivers   (1946). 

4  Soap - if you've seen Stella Dallas, you might enjoy My Reputation (1946), directed by Curtis Bernhardt, in which she plays a young upper-crust widow who finds new love (and heavily implied sex) with an Army captain, played by the dull George Brent.  But Stanwyck is amazing in a scene in which she breaks down under the pressure of expectations (and it's nice to see Eve Arden not playing a man-chasing spinster for once).

3  Western - if you only know Stanwyck as the matriarch on the TV series The Big Valley, you can see her in the Nicholas Ray-directed 40 Guns (1957) or the crazy The Furies (1950), directed by Anthony Mann, in which she plays the daughter of Walter Huston, and in one fairly insane scene throws a pair of scissors at the face of her stepmother (played by Judith Anderson), leaving her scarred.

2  Comedy - Love The Lady Eve? (And who doesn't?).  Take a look at Lady of Burlesque (1943), directed by William Wellman.  She is probably the most-clothed stripper in the history of stripping, but the snappy dialogue and unforced chemistry with her pretty much forgotten leading man, Michael O'Shea, make this pure fun.  She also does a dance number that includes cartwheels!

1  This is where the outlier comes in.  Remember the Night (1940), directed by the unjustly forgotten Mitchell Leisen from a script by Preston Sturges, is a combination of screwball comedy (Stanwyck plays a jewel thief who defends herself in court by claiming to have been hypnotized by the jewelry) and sentimental comedy/drama.  She is paroled for the Christmas season into the custody of the prosecuting attorney (Fred MacMurray), because they're both from Indiana, and he's going to drop her off at her mother's house on the way to his.  (Yeah, it doesn't make any more sense when you watch it.)  There is a memorably brutal scene where her mother rejects her, and MacMurray takes her to his home for the holiday.  The glowing, loving home is, of course, the catalyst for her reform (along with her growing love for MacMurray).  A really beautiful movie.

Well, that's my list.  I could have included many more (and I didn't even get to include any of her pre-Codes, like The Miracle Woman or Ladies They Talk About).  I've seen nearly all of her movies, and she never fails to be entirely real on-screen.  I think she's the best actress to have never won an Oscar.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Crisopera

[Milburn Stone]

20 minutes ago, Crisopera said:

5  Noir - if you've seen Double Indemnity, take a look at The File on Thelma Jordon (1950), directed by Robert Siodmak.  She plays an ambiguous woman (is she a femme fatale?), and has the benefit of a well-cast (for once!) Wendell Corey as a weak-willed ADA.  She did quite a few other good noirs, including the entertaining The Strange Love of Martha Ivers   (1946). 

4  Soap - if you've seen Stella Dallas, you might enjoy My Reputation (1946), directed by Curtis Bernhardt, in which she plays a young upper-crust widow who finds new love (and heavily implied sex) with an Army captain, played by the dull George Brent.  But Stanwyck is amazing in a scene in which she breaks down under the pressure of expectations (and it's nice to see Eve Arden not playing a man-chasing spinster for once).

There's a fantastic Stanwyck film that's halfway between a noir and a soap--or maybe it's fully both at the same time. A rare example of a noir that is also a "woman's picture." No Man of Her Own, directed by Leisen (1950). A case of mistaken identity (deliberate subterfuge), blackmail, and a woman's right to find fulfillment, all in one, with a heroine you root for from the get go. Have never seen another movie like it.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

I'm going to stick with the originally announced topic, as I don't know enough Stanwyck movies to talk about lesser-known ones. These will all be famous ones, I'm sure. And unnumbered.

Five Barbara Stanwyck Movies:

• Golden Boy (1939)
• The Lady Eve (1941)
• Ball of Fire (1941)
• Double Indemnity (1944)
• Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

All among her best known, varying in genre from romance-melodrama to noir to several sorts of comedy. She really could do it all. And her acting style is remarkably un-dated; allowance never has to be made for "that's just how they emoted back then." 

I must confess that I don't enjoy Remember the Night, though. Being all read up on Mitchell Leisen when it was aired, I was all set to be bowled over, but somehow in this case the mixing of genres didn't work for me -- I felt like the premise didn't set up this conclusion. My loss, I'm sure. (And I've never managed to see No Man of Her Own, but I hope I will some day; my DVR is under orders to snag me all the Leisen it finds, which lately means the same 5 TV-anthology episodes again and again.)

[Crisopera]

Milburn Stone and Rinaldo - No Man of Her Own is wonderful.  I think it has been neglected because it's definitely "woman's" noir.  The Cornell Woolrich book it's based on, I Married a Dead Man has a notably

Spoiler

much bleaker ending than the movie - the Stanwyck and Lund characters are left uncertain as to who actually killed her husband.  It's left unresolved - and they are locked in a marriage of mutual suspicion.  Brrrr.

It's a very good read.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Crisopera

[Milburn Stone]

Cris (if I may call you that), I can somewhat imagine the bleaker ending of the novel, but if you don't mind sharing it in a spoiler box, I'd love to know.

[Padma]

2 hours ago, Crisopera said:

TOP FIVE LESSER-KNOWN BARBARA STANWYCK FILMS

I decided to modify this slightly, as I figure anyone who frequents this board has already seen her most famous movies - Double Indemnity, The Lady Eve, Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, and probably even Babyface, one of the movies that brought down the wrath of the Production Code. 

I think Barbara Stanwyck is the most versatile of all the Golden Age Hollywood actresses.  (She's also my favorite.)  Bette Davis may have outdone her in emotional impact, Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert were maybe better comic actresses, but none of them could have done Stanwyck's wide range.  (Davis was awful in comedy, and Lombard and Colbert were kind of stiff in drama.)  Stanwyck could do it all - nobody had that combination of toughness and vulnerability (nobody cried like Stanwyck!) and brilliant comic finesse.  So I'm going to give my favorites of her lesser-known pictures in various genres, which I'll match with her better-known movies.

5  Noir - if you've seen Double Indemnity, take a look at The File on Thelma Jordon (1950), directed by Robert Siodmak.  She plays an ambiguous woman (is she a femme fatale?), and has the benefit of a well-cast (for once!) Wendell Corey as a weak-willed ADA.  She did quite a few other good noirs, including the entertaining The Strange Love of Martha Ivers   (1946). 

4  Soap - if you've seen Stella Dallas, you might enjoy My Reputation (1946), directed by Curtis Bernhardt, in which she plays a young upper-crust widow who finds new love (and heavily implied sex) with an Army captain, played by the dull George Brent.  But Stanwyck is amazing in a scene in which she breaks down under the pressure of expectations (and it's nice to see Eve Arden not playing a man-chasing spinster for once).

3  Western - if you only know Stanwyck as the matriarch on the TV series The Big Valley, you can see her in the Nicholas Ray-directed 40 Guns (1957) or the crazy The Furies (1950), directed by Anthony Mann, in which she plays the daughter of Walter Huston, and in one fairly insane scene throws a pair of scissors at the face of her stepmother (played by Judith Anderson), leaving her scarred.

2  Comedy - Love The Lady Eve? (And who doesn't?).  Take a look at Lady of Burlesque (1943), directed by William Wellman.  She is probably the most-clothed stripper in the history of stripping, but the snappy dialogue and unforced chemistry with her pretty much forgotten leading man, Michael O'Shea, make this pure fun.  She also does a dance number that includes cartwheels!

1  This is where the outlier comes in.  Remember the Night (1940), directed by the unjustly forgotten Mitchell Leisen from a script by Preston Sturges, is a combination of screwball comedy (Stanwyck plays a jewel thief who defends herself in court by claiming to have been hypnotized by the jewelry) and sentimental comedy/drama.  She is paroled for the Christmas season into the custody of the prosecuting attorney (Fred MacMurray), because they're both from Indiana, and he's going to drop her off at her mother's house on the way to his.  (Yeah, it doesn't make any more sense when you watch it.)  There is a memorably brutal scene where her mother rejects her, and MacMurray takes her to his home for the holiday.  The glowing, loving home is, of course, the catalyst for her reform (along with her growing love for MacMurray).  A really beautiful movie.

Well, that's my list.  I could have included many more (and I didn't even get to include any of her pre-Codes, like The Miracle Woman or Ladies They Talk About).  I've seen nearly all of her movies, and she never fails to be entirely real on-screen.  I think she's the best actress to have never won an Oscar.

I appreciate this list of Stanwyck movies I don't know (except  "Remember the Night" which I saw way back on TCM, liked well enough to watch again if it comes on, but otherwise don't remember well.) Stanwyck is one of my favorite actresses, too, particularly from "Double Indemnity" which is one of my top 10 favorite films. I

One of my favorite Stanwyck "movie" performances was actually in a made-for-television movie, "The Thorn Birds".  She was 76 years old at the time, looked fantastic and played a powerful, wealthy woman who repeatedly, and convincingly, tries to seduce the area's young priest (Richard Chamberlain). It was refreshing to see such a different role for an elderly woman and she was incredible in it.

Stanwyck was so great at "tough, smart and vulnerable". Maybe because, like several other great actresses from past generations, she had such a tough early life, a true "rags to riches" story--orphaned at 4, sent to foster homes, dropped out of middle school at 14, never went to high school. She wanted to be an actress from such a young age, even without any support or encouragement, and supported herself on a $14 a week job as a file clerk. But when she finally got on stage her talent apparently stood out from the beginning--and, even with so little formal or familial education, she was interesting enough to make the friendship of her brilliant co-star, pianist Oscar Levant (who introduced her to her husband).  

A great and unique actress. Thanks so much for choosing her and drawing attention to these lesser-known films. (And ITA that "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" is another good Stanwyck noir--and introduces Kirk Douglas, as her unhappy husband, in his first film role.)

Edited November 28, 2016 by Padma

[Sharpie66]

Ummm, in looking at her IMDB page, I realize I've never seen any Barbara Stanwyck films. I really should get on that.