TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Constant Viewer]

2 hours ago, PaulaO said:

This weekend is a salute to Veterans’ Day.  But no World War One films???  How about All Quiet on the Western Fromt, A Farewell to Arms, Grand Illusion?  

That's crazy! Especially since it is the 100 year anniversary of the Armistice

[Charlie Baker]

Agreed, @PaulaO.  Particularly because Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day, commemorating the end of WWI.  And, no, I wasn't around then.  :-)

[graybrown bird]

Would like to have seen Paths of Glory today, a century to the day that WWI ended.  Inexplicably TCM is showing nothing but WWII chestnuts.

[Cobb Salad]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:10 PM, PaulaO said:

This weekend is a salute to Veterans’ Day.  But no World War One films???  How about All Quiet on the Western Fromt, A Farewell to Arms, Grand Illusion?  

They showed The Eagle and the Hawk, a WW I movie early this afternoon.  

[ratgirlagogo]

On 11/10/2018 at 8:07 PM, Constant Viewer said:

On 11/10/2018 at 5:10 PM, PaulaO said:

This weekend is a salute to Veterans’ Day.  But no World War One films???  How about All Quiet on the Western Fromt, A Farewell to Arms, Grand Illusion?  

That's crazy! Especially since it is the 100 year anniversary of the Armistice

Friday the 9th was the World War One day:  Ace of Aces, Waterloo Bridge, Army Surgeon, The Spy in Black, Hell Below, The Fighting 69th, and Sergeant York.  

But I also don't really understand why they didn't focus more on WWI, especially since they did a whole month on it four years ago for the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war.

http://ww.tcm.com/this-month/article/1009641|0/100th-Anniversary-of-WWI-Fridays-in-July.html

and they showed all kinds of films like Kameradschaft and J'Accuse! and Oh! What A Lovely War! that are rarely ever shown, and this would obviously have been a good time to do it.

[Rinaldo]

I caught up with a couple of classics that I should have seen before now but somehow had missed. TCM is a great resource that way. Both, coincidentally, are seminal examples of the "cross-section of humanity gets confined together for a limited period of time" premise. 

The Petrified Forest has everyone interacting in a desert diner / gas station. It was a play first, and shows that origin in the flowery would-be-poetic speeches that pop up periodically, mostly for the character played by Leslie Howard. He'd played the part on Broadway, and still seems to be scaled for the stage, but I doubt that anybody could get by with those speeches any better. The other stage survivor, Humphrey Bogart, as the long-heralded criminal who arrives late in the story with his gang and traps the whole cast there, comes through like gangbusters. It's easy to see why this role, after some unnoticed early appearances, made him a movie star: the voice and persona are all there, and he's magnetic. So, in a surprisingly quiet, simple way, is Bette Davis as the proprietor's daughter, and waitress for the place. I've never seen her bring off such an ingenue-ish character so well, without histrionics or extremes, and she's all the more moving and memorable for it.

Stagecoach is not basically my kind of movie; I just don't fall down in awe at Westerns (unless they do something special with the genre, like McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Ride the High Country), and the depiction of Mexicans and Native Americans have not survived the years well, to put it gently. But I can see why this one continues to be remembered and talked about, with its assortment of familiar types, in some cases played by their archetypal actors: Andy Devine (unchanged across the decades) as the dumb but well-intentioned coach driver, John Carradine (never saw him this young before) as the snooty Southern gambler, Claire Trevor as the lady of ill repute fleeing one town for another, Thomas Mitchell as the drunken doc. In this case the memorable performance, for me, came from John Wayne, playing the good-hearted escaped prisoner with a looser, lighter touch than I've otherwise seen from him. He did a great deal to make the story work as well as it does. I dare say director John Ford deserves some credit for that too. 

[Charlie Baker]

Some George Sanders films during the day tomorrow: Dorian Gray and Ghost and Mrs Muir, but also Lured, which is just an okay thriller, though it's really intriguing to see him paired with Lucille Ball, and there's a creepy turn by Boris Karloff,  Journey to Italy, another interesting couple of Mr. S and Ingrid Bergman, directed by Roberto Rossellini, plus a movie I've always wanted to see and never have, Death of a Scoundrel, in which GS appears with his one time wife, Zsa Zsa Gabor. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Charlie Baker
Mistaken recollection.

[Crisopera]

Another great George Sanders oddity tomorrow: A Scandal in Paris (1946).  It's Douglas Sirk's third US movie.  Sanders plays the real-life Vidocq, a thief who ended up being the chief of police in Paris (although the film is alleged to  be based on his memoirs, it's more like a fairy tale).  The cast is great - not just Sanders, but the tragic Carole Landis as a scheming showgirl, and two genuinely creepy performances by Akim Tamiroff and Gene Lockhart.  (Signe Hasso is miscast as the ingenue.)  The script is witty, as is the direction, the sets and costumes are terrific.  Well worth a look.

And there's a set of interesting-looking pre-Codes on Friday morning.

[voiceover]

That first sight of John Wayne-as-Ringo is one of moviedom's great introductions.*  He's just...beautiful.  And that's all John Ford's vision.

I love Stagecoach, partly because it's one of the best versions of the "Us Against the World"-sl.  A confined space/a time limit/a dedicated enemy/trouble from within: how can you miss with that plot?   And I like that Lucy and Dallas were able to see each other clearly by story's end -- something that would never have happened if they'd stayed behind and lived up to their preassigned roles of Town Widow & Town Pump.

*List Alert!!  Best Character Intros, Male: 5. Orson Welles, The Third Man; 4. Alec Guinness, Star Wars; 3. John Wayne, Stagecoach; 2. Clark Gable, Gone With the Wind; 1. Ronald Colman, Tale Of Two Cities.

eta: Sorry, guys.  I held out for as long as I could.

Edited November 16, 2018 by voiceover

[tennisgurl]

Ever since they announced the end of Filmstruck (seriously, where we I go for classic films now!?) I've been somewhat obsessively watching movies on there, before they all disappear. I have already seen Macabe and Mrs. Miller, Lady Snowblood, Cat People, Black Narcissus, and To Be or Not To Be in the last few days. Does anyone have any other recommendations?!

[Charlie Baker]

Hope for a new iteration for Filmstruck?  Spurred by the big name protesters of its demise?  Not a perfect proposition, because it would be bundled with other streaming services, and might not happen for a while.

Deadline on the future of Filmstruck

[voiceover]

IIRC, it was in one of the narrative asides --maybe the intro? -- of Princess Bride, where William Goldman discussed the cliff-jumping scene in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid ("I can't swim!!" (Butch bursts out laughing) "...the fall'll kill ya!"), and mournfully declared that, no matter what he ever wrote or accomplished in his life, he'd only really be remembered for that: "The New York Times obit will read: 'Goldman Dead at ...; Wrote Cliff-Jumping Scene in Butch Cassidy". 

Flights of angels, Bill: William Goldman, R.I.P.

[Charlie Baker]

Just watched that nightmare-thrill-ride Marathon Man the other night on another channel (forgive the sacrilege!).  And with Butch Cassidy, All the President's Men, Princess Bride, et al, a legacy to rival those of golden age Hollywood screenwriters for Mr. Goldman. 

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Hope for a new iteration for Filmstruck?  Spurred by the big name protesters of its demise?  Not a perfect proposition, because it would be bundled with other streaming services, and might not happen for a while.

Deadline on the future of Filmstruck

If AT&T resurrects it in some new form, I hope they'll fix the user-interface. It was God-awful.

[ratgirlagogo]

Sorry this is late, but tonight they're featuring films starring  the great English music-hall star George Formby.  Hope my DVR has room.

 

Shit, shit, shit - the one starting right now is Keep Your Seats, which is based on Ilf and Petrov's The Twelve Chairs, the same novel that Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs and Fred Allen's It's In the Bag! was based on.

Edited November 17, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[voiceover]

The Criterion Collection is trolling for subscribers for its streaming service.  Is this what you're thinking of?

Sounds...promising.  I just fear jumping all-in, only to watch it fail in three months.

1 hour ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Sorry this is late, but tonight they're featuring films starring  the great English music-hall star George Formby.  Hope my DVR has room.

Wow!  One of my favorite novels references the narrator's mother's "collection of George Formby records", a line that I would skim past.  Until now.

Thanks @ratgirlagogo!  I watched your movie; now I get the reference!

[ratgirlagogo]

On 11/17/2018 at 12:23 AM, voiceover said:

One of my favorite novels references the narrator's mother's "collection of George Formby records",

What novel is this?  The first I ever heard of George Formby  was from the Kinks.   ETA: and the Beatles of course!

Edited November 21, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[Crisopera]

I thought the Formby movies were fascinating, in a sort of anthropological way.  I don't believe I laughed at all.  Maybe one of the problems was that he had a thick Lancastrian accent, which impeded my understanding of the "naughty" lyrics of his song.  I thought the best one was Keep Your Seats, Please, which did have the great Alistair Sim as the villain.  I didn't think they were poorly made (there were some nice chase sequences), just not funny.  And did I miss something, or did Ben not mention the later versions of the Ilf and Petrov novel it was based on?

Edited November 21, 2018 by Crisopera

[Rinaldo]

Today (Wednesday) is clearly about Eleanor Powell, which also involves us in a surprising amount of Red Skelton. I can do without the latter, and I've seen most of her famous titles, but I bumped into I Dood It this afternoon just in time to see her amazing "So Long, Sarah Jane" routine. 

I know all the things that people have said against her -- that her technical skill wasn't coupled with the special magnetism-or-whatever that makes for memorable performances, lack of emotional range, whatever -- and I just don't care. This kind of virtuosity, in any medium, is its own reward. Spin a rope and dance through it? Sure. Negotiate all the ropes that everyone else is twirling? All in a day's work. Lasso a post eight times, on the beat, with eight ropes in succession completely without a camera cut at any point... that's just physical mastery. She's great.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

Today (Wednesday) is clearly about Eleanor Powell, which also involves us in a surprising amount of Red Skelton. I can do without the latter, and I've seen most of her famous titles, but I bumped into I Dood It this afternoon just in time to see her amazing "So Long, Sarah Jane" routine. 

I know all the things that people have said against her -- that her technical skill wasn't coupled with the special magnetism-or-whatever that makes for memorable performances, lack of emotional range, whatever -- and I just don't care. This kind of virtuosity, in any medium, is its own reward. Spin a rope and dance through it? Sure. Negotiate all the ropes that everyone else is twirling? All in a day's work. Lasso a post eight times, on the beat, with eight ropes in succession completely without a camera cut at any point... that's just physical mastery. She's great.

Agree with all of the above, and add that this number could only come from the combined supertalents of MGM. (Despite that it didn't come from "the Freed unit.") 

[ratgirlagogo]

10 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I bumped into I Dood It this afternoon

I also find Red Skelton kind of tiresome but he's better in these MGM movies than he was on his own show on radio or on TV.  I've seen I Dood It before but I did record it just so I could watch that sequence with Hazel Scott and Lena Horne again.  

[PaulaO]

Watching GWTW for about the hundredth time.  How on earth did Clark Gabe not win an Oscar??????

[voiceover]

On 11/17/2018 at 7:04 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

What novel is this?  The first I ever heard of George Formby  was from the Kinks.   ETA: and the Beatles of course!

 

Brother of the More Famous Jack.  The heroine is entertaining her first love (the "Jack" of the title) by babbling on about what she refers to as her "non-U childhood" (tm Mitford sisters): 

"I told him that my uncle collected George Formby records."  It's one of about a jillion dated/cultural references the author threw in that passed right over my head.  Proof that a great story has universal appeal, no matter the window dressing.

On 11/22/2018 at 7:50 AM, PaulaO said:

Watching GWTW for about the hundredth time.  How on earth did Clark Gabe not win an Oscar??????

Because he won it five years before and he wasn't Spencer Tracy.  I agree with your love of that performance, though.  And as much as I adore Robert Donat,  I never thought Chips was his finest hour.

Edited November 26, 2018 by voiceover

[Rinaldo]

A brief note on Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which I'd never seen. I was just about to start high school when it came out, and all I knew about it was that it starred David Niven and Doris Day and that it was based on the popular Jean Kerr book (my family, like many another, owned a copy) collecting her humorous short articles about her life as the wife of a theater critic and mother of a large unruly brood (dog included) in a rambling old house in Westchester County.

So I thought I knew what to expect from this title, it being a 1960 Hollywood production: a glossy family romp with a bunch of the anecdotes from the book tied together in a loose thread of story, with the occasional cheery song from Ms. Day (I recalled from the newspaper ads at the time that there were two, including a title song). 

But it's not like that at all. For the most part, it's a drama of marital tension. I don't mean to suggest that it's super-heavy -- the marriage is never in real danger, and there are lighter (if not actually funny) moments all through -- presumably the boys dropping water balloons out the window on passers-by is meant as delightful. But the through-line is Niven getting full of himself as a critic with a reputation for meanness and funny put-downs, and living in the city while the house gets put into shape without him. 

It's all resolved readily enough in the end, with him realizing how he's gone off track and the family all back together. But again: this must be one of the most unexpected metamorphoses of a popular book (and that's really the most interesting thing about it). 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Rinaldo

[Crisopera]

voiceover - so you're the other person who read (and loved) that book!  I read it when it came out and felt it was a book that absolutely earned its happy ending.  So happy to find another fan.  Have you ever read The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy?  I found Brother quite reminiscent of that.

[voiceover]

Pandora's Box is tomorrow's "Silent Sundays" feature, and it's worth catching.  It's a troubling, beautiful piece of filmmaking, and Louise Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu, one of cinema's most misunderstood characters.   The actress wrote about her own portrayal, insisting that Lulu was innocent in her overt sexuality, and not the diabolical femme fatale she was accused of being.

@Crisopera!  So there's two of us. I ***adore that book.  I mostly cast it with people in my own life, but I like to think of Brian Blessed as Jacob.  I'll check out your recommendation.  And in turn I'd advise to give Trapido's other work a pass.  Her sophomore effort was okay (a bit of a rewrite of Jack), but the rest...bleahhhhh.

[Charlie Baker]

Sophia Loren tonight with Marriage Italian Style, with Mastroianni, the recent short The Human Voice, directed by her son, Eduardo, who interviews her for a delightful festival appearance also showing tonight,  and her Oscar winner Two Women.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Charlie Baker

[Rinaldo]

A year ago we had a very, er, lively discussion of the proposed Judy Holliday biopic, and who should or shouldn't play the role.

Yesterday the casting was announced, and it's better than I could have hoped for: Annaleigh Ashford. Though she has had her movie and TV roles, she's certainly not a big-selling name (yet). But she's totally right for the part, in a way that rarely happens with films of real people. Well done.

[voiceover]

TCM/Fathom Events released their 2019 calendar.  They're not all winners, but it's leaps & bounds over this year's.  

Looking forward to next December's 30th (yikes!!) anniversary showing of When Harry Met Sally.  I saw it *numerous times during its first run, and was given to reciting entire scenes at dinner parties & general occasion gatherings -- because I am That Person.   When it finally came out on video, a friend refused to see it, saying I'd already "quoted the whole damn thing" to him.

[NowVoyager]

Gold Diggers of 1933.

I just love this movie. Can't wait to watch it again OnDemand. It's perfect when you're not sure what you're in the mood for, because it's got a bit of everything.  

Aline MacMahon's character just cracks me up: stealing milk off the stoop & weaselling money & gifts out of Fanny. The scene with her in the tub without a scrap of makeup was unusual for the time. She looked great; very youthful. & Fanny (Guy Kibbee) looking in the mirror with that pekingese & licking his tongue out--- I. Die. Everytime.

I'm not big on musicals, but I love the music here. Dick Powell has such a quintessential 1930's singing voice. & Ginger Rogers singing in pig latin--- soo cool. & I just LOVE the choreography! We're in the Money, the Petting in the Park ladies coming in out of the rain.... & Forgotten Man. It makes me cry everytime.

Has anyone else noticed that there have been some short turn around repeats lately? Like Gold Diggers of 1935 & Charade?

Edited December 7, 2018 by NowVoyager

[Wiendish Fitch]

3 hours ago, NowVoyager said:

 

I'm not big on musicals, but I love the music here. Dick Powell has such a quintessential 1930's singing voice. & Ginger Rogers singing in pig latin--- soo cool. & I just LOVE the choreography! We're in the Money, the Petting in the Park ladies coming in out of the rain.... & Forgotten Man. It makes me cry everytime.

 

Don't forget "The Shadow Waltz"! Such a lovely song, and the choreography is just out of this world: by turns whimsical, surreal, and haunting, and I love Powell and Keeler's kiss at the end. 

[AuntiePam]

His Kind of Woman -- shown on Jane Russell's day last week.  Preposterous plot with Raymond Burr as a crime lord who lures Robert Mitchum to an island resort for the purpose of stealing his face.  Not his actual face, of course, but he intended to use Mitchum as a model so that a plastic surgeon could give him Mitchum's identity.  Apparently Mitchum's height and weight were a close match, and Mitchum had no friends or relatives who would miss him if he disappeared. 

Anyway, the snappy dialogue kept me watching.  Frank Fenton was credited as screenwriter (tons of credits at IMDB).  Fenton also wrote a couple of well-received novels, one of which was favorably compared to Day of the Locust.  So I'm off to Amazon to look for Fenton's novel and of course it's out of print.  One copy available for $235.  But in looking for Fenton's work, I find another novel praised for its portrait of 1930's Los Angeles, this one by John Fante, and Amazon has affordable copies.  ETA: The title is Ask the Dust.

Over the years, I've found some of my favorite books by watching the movie first, especially movies from the 30's, 40's, and 50's.  TCM is my guidebook.

Edited December 9, 2018 by AuntiePam
To add the book's title, in case anyone is interested.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 12/2/2018 at 12:00 AM, voiceover said:

Pandora's Box is tomorrow's "Silent Sundays" feature, and it's worth catching.  It's a troubling, beautiful piece of filmmaking, and Louise Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu, one of cinema's most misunderstood characters.   The actress wrote about her own portrayal, insisting that Lulu was innocent in her overt sexuality, and not the diabolical femme fatale she was accused of being.

@Crisopera!  So there's two of us. I ***adore that book.  I mostly cast it with people in my own life, but I like to think of Brian Blessed as Jacob.  I'll check out your recommendation.  And in turn I'd advise to give Trapido's other work a pass.  Her sophomore effort was okay (a bit of a rewrite of Jack), but the rest...bleahhhhh.

I’ve read it too. @voiceover and @Crisopera  

[voiceover]

Ramon Novarro's agent: It Me.

I urge you to check out his turn in the title role of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.  All due respect to Wyler & co., but this is the best version of the story.

Who was better than Ramon, the silent era's Boy King, at being the bashful yet ardent suitor; the young man bravely embracing his noble destiny? 

And that chariot race!  Damn.

[NowVoyager]

On 12/7/2018 at 6:46 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Don't forget "The Shadow Waltz"! Such a lovely song, and the choreography is just out of this world: by turns whimsical, surreal, and haunting, and I love Powell and Keeler's kiss at the end. 

 

Yes! Sorry the audio in this link is off-kilter. But her Marcel Waves are giving me Life!

Edited December 10, 2018 by NowVoyager

[chitowngirl]

Singin’ in the Rain-sigh! Sheer perfection!!

[Crisopera]

Well, the Judy Holliday biopic has a perfect lead in Annaleigh Ashford - but now there's going to be an Audrey Hepburn TV project.  I just...can't.  Who could possibly play her?  I swear, if they cast Ariana Grande, I'll have do some murderin'.

[Wiendish Fitch]

8 hours ago, Crisopera said:

Well, the Judy Holliday biopic has a perfect lead in Annaleigh Ashford - but now there's going to be an Audrey Hepburn TV project.  I just...can't.  Who could possibly play her?  I swear, if they cast Ariana Grande, I'll have do some murderin'.

It's bad enough they thought Jennifer Love Hewitt could play her way back when...

[Charlie Baker]

TCM Remembers 2018

[BooksRule]

I just watched '42nd Street' (recorded a few days ago from its TCM airing). I had never seen this movie (although I was familiar with a few of the songs) and had always heard that it was really good. I had also read that it was also famous for saving the movie musical and either launching or revitalizing some actors' careers, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I do have to admit that the last twenty minutes (three songs being performed during the show's first night in Philadelphia) were pretty enjoyable, mainly due to some nice costumes and elaborate Busby Berkeley-choreographed dancing routines.  I'm glad I finally watched it, because it was on my 'list of movies to see one day', but I probably won't watch it again. (Although watching it did remind me that my library has a copy of 'Buzz: the life and art of Busby Berkeley' that I've been meaning to read.) 

[Popples]

On 12/15/2018 at 8:38 PM, BooksRule said:

I just watched '42nd Street' (recorded a few days ago from its TCM airing). I had never seen this movie (although I was familiar with a few of the songs) and had always heard that it was really good. I had also read that it was also famous for saving the movie musical and either launching or revitalizing some actors' careers, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I do have to admit that the last twenty minutes (three songs being performed during the show's first night in Philadelphia) were pretty enjoyable, mainly due to some nice costumes and elaborate Busby Berkeley-choreographed dancing routines.  I'm glad I finally watched it, because it was on my 'list of movies to see one day', but I probably won't watch it again. (Although watching it did remind me that my library has a copy of 'Buzz: the life and art of Busby Berkeley' that I've been meaning to read.) 

I had nearly the same reaction when I watched it for the first time some years ago. Luckily, TCM aired Golddiggers of 1933 right after and I found it to be a much better film.

[chitowngirl]

On 12/15/2018 at 6:24 PM, Charlie Baker said:

TCM Remembers 2018

I thought Stan Lee was going to get the last slot, forgot about Burt Reynolds. Impressed they got Sondra Locke in. Can’t they just show this at the Academy Awards this year?

[voiceover]

5 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Can’t they just show [TCM Remembers] at the Academy Awards this year?

That's what we say every year.

I'd forgotten Vic Damone passed in February.  One of my holiday favorites is his version of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", courtesy the 4th Firestone Christmas compilation of the early 60s.  Simple, beautiful, elegant: his voice and those lyrics never fail to move me.

[Tom Holmberg]

I watched "Blackboard Jungle", which I've seen many times, and finally realized Jamie Farr is one of the students (under his real name Jameel Farah).

[Charlie Baker]

Paul Mazursky who went on to more notoriety as a director/writer was also one of the students in Blackboard Jungle.

I wonder if Penny Marshall might be added to TCM Remembers.  It has been about thirty years since her biggest films were released.

Also, even though they showed some of her films in one day recently, it seems they missed Mary Carlisle in the tribute.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Charlie Baker

[Rinaldo]

33 minutes ago, Charlie Baker said:

Paul Mazursky who went to more notoriety as a director/writer was also one of the students in Blackboard Jungle.

When I first got a DVR, one of the names I had it Search for was Paul Mazursky, as I'd enjoyed his movies in the 1970s and 80s and hankered to see some of them again. What I was given more often (and very interesting to see) were his early acting performances, in TV shows like The Twilight Zone and The Rifleman. He never stopped acting, of course, showing up later in the Streisand Star Is Born, The Sopranos, and Once and Again.

[Charlie Baker]

He has a very funny bit in his own An Unmarried Woman.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

I wonder if Penny Marshall might be added to TCM Remembers. 

Oh, she damn well better be; she's one of the most-successful female directors in American film history; Big was the first film directed by a woman to pass the $100 million mark, and then she did it again with A League of Their Own, the highest-grossing baseball movie ever.  She was a leader to and champion of other women in comedy and behind the lens.  TCM always builds in room to add late-breaking deaths by including stock footage that fits their theme, so some of that can be replaced with someone's picture and the total running time of video still syncs with the length of the song.  

Edited December 19, 2018 by Bastet

[Milburn Stone]

On 12/18/2018 at 10:10 PM, Bastet said:

TCM always builds in room to add late-breaking deaths by including stock footage that fits their theme, so some of that can be replaced with someone's picture and the total running time of video still syncs with the length of the song.

Clever of them! I never realized this was the reason for the "insert shots." I think one reason I never realized it is that the insert shots are so well-chosen, and contribute their own value, not just thematically but emotionally. But come to think of it, that's exactly the solution I would come up with if I were the editor or supervising the edit, so it makes all the sense in the world.

Watching the old (and even some new) movies on TCM, you become hyper-aware of bad insert shots, the ones that exist only because something went wrong in the preferred shot that makes its uninterrupted use untenable. (Just one example: Actor has closeup delivering long monologue, which for the sake of the drama is best held for its entirety. But actor can't deliver whole monologue without a flub somewhere. So, while you pick up the words from another take, cut away to a reaction shot, or a shot of the hands, or the doorknob, or whatever, and then cut back to the actor's closeup, and "no one will be any the wiser.") Insert shots are a completely respectable part of film grammar, but the art is using them so that they seem inevitable, not to transparently cover a mistake. The TCM editors have learned their lesson well.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[Crisopera]

Well, I was just watching a not-terribly funny screwball, Hard to Get (1938), with Dick Powell and Olivia De Havilland, and, about in the middle of the movie,  Dick Powell shows up to do an Al Jolson imitation (he sings "Sonny Boy") in, yes, full blackface, including wig.  I know it's because he's playing Jolson, but still, it gave me a bit of a pause.