TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[voiceover]

On 6/17/2020 at 12:47 PM, meowmommy said:

The Sinclair Lewis book was Arrowsmith.  About a country doctor who really just wants to stamp out infectious disease, but is stymied by bureaucrats and closed minds every step of the way, including during a plague epidemic[...]

It was made into a movie in 1931, but I don't know if TCM ever shows it.

My dear! It is a Ronald Colman picture; there's at least seven days a year in homage to my boy, and after his silents, they sneak in his do-gooder roles before they get to the sexy leading man stuff.

Plus, this one has Myrna Loy, with a very singular (and sexy) intro.  Just her lovely arm, waiting for an injection.

[VCRTracking]

23 hours ago, voiceover said:

My dear! It is a Ronald Colman picture; there's at least seven days a year in homage to my boy, and after his silents, they sneak in his do-gooder roles before they get to the sexy leading man stuff.

Plus, this one has Myrna Loy, with a very singular (and sexy) intro.  Just her lovely arm, waiting for an injection.

Here is a preview clip from YouTube:

 

 

[EtheltoTillie]

Some Like It Hot is the Gone With the Wind of the trans community.  Discuss.

Seriously, you just can't unsee it, after watching the new Netflix documentary Disclosure on trans actors and images in entertainment.  Oddly enough it's not even mentioned, although Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire and Bosom Buddies are shown.

I have said in this forum that I didn't like the movie and couldn't understand why it was considered such a "classic."  It should be shown with disclaimers. 

 

[EtheltoTillie]

Late reply to what @Rinaldo said about Robert Ryan.  I think you were right--he just always plays sleazy or unlikable characters. 

[mariah23]

On 6/27/2020 at 10:27 AM, GussieK said:

Some Like It Hot is the Gone With the Wind of the trans community.  Discuss.

Seriously, you just can't unsee it, after watching the new Netflix documentary Disclosure on trans actors and images in entertainment.  Oddly enough it's not even mentioned, although Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire and Bosom Buddies are shown.

I have said in this forum that I didn't like the movie and couldn't understand why it was considered such a "classic."  It should be shown with disclaimers. 

 

@GUSSIEK, I guess I need to put Disclosure in my Netflix queue.  Us film fans need to hear different perspectives and how certain films affect different groups.  Thank you.

[Bastet]

On 6/27/2020 at 8:27 AM, GussieK said:

Oddly enough [Some Like It Hot]'s not even mentioned, although Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire and Bosom Buddies are shown.

Wow, I'm surprised to hear that.  (I started to watch Disclosure Friday night, but I was wiped out and fell asleep about 15 minutes after lying down; I haven't yet had a chance to start it again, but the little I saw was great.)

[Growsonwalls]

I don't think Some Like It Hot is as insensitive to the trans community as Tootsie, but I'm also frankly tired of every drag performance now being called transphobic. I feel like drag comedy is an art form that is completely separate from the trans movement and the demands for boycott of drag movies or musicals is a step too far.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Growsonwalls

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I don't think Some Like It Hot is as insensitive to the trans community as Tootsie, but I'm also frankly tired of every drag performance now being transphobic. I feel like drag comedy is an art form that is completely separate from the trans movement and the demands for boycott of drag movies or musicals is a step too far.

I agree because I think a distinction needs to be made between a cis actor playing a trans character, and a cis actor playing a cis character who pretends to be another gender out of necessity. In The Birdcage, Gene Hackman dresses as a woman to save his political hide, and the joke is on him--not on men who dress as women, or on women who once were identified as men--because he's been such a bigoted, homophobic, transphobic character. In Some Like It Hot, neither Tony Curtis nor Jack Lemmon make the decision to dress as women to have a joke on women, but to save their literal hides. Once again, the joke is at their expense--not that of women or of cross-dressers or of transgender people--because the experience challenges their masculine self-identification. And also because the two characters are playing their idea of women--not Billy Wilder's idea of women, or the audience's idea of women--and the cartoonish aspect of their portrayal exposes their concept of women for the cartoon it is.

And speaking of cartoons, what are we to do with the Bugs Bunny cartoons in which he gets himself up as a woman in order to seduce Elmer Fudd?

Edited June 29, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[Luckylyn]

I’ve been thinking about it and the distinction for me is that wearing drag and being transgender are not the same thing.  A man or woman who wears clothing that is associated with the opposite gender is not necessarily a transgender person.  So I can object to a cis-actor playing a transgender character while accepting a cis-gender actor performing in drag.  I think the unfairness stems from the fact that transgender actors are not being cast for cisgender parts and so it’s unfair to also give transgender parts to cisgender actors too.  Let’s say there are thousands of roles for cisgender characters but only 10 for transgender (These are random made up numbers.  I’m sure someone else knows where to get accurate statistics).   Part of the problem is the lack of opportunity because there isn’t enough diversity in roles that are being offered.  The other problem is that people are being shut out of roles in general but then also shut out of roles that are about them too.   But I could easily be interpreting this wrong.  

I remember watching a documentary about disability in film that aired on TCM a few months ago.  One person commented that casting can be biased in that it’s assumed unless specifically written that characters have to be not disabled, white, slim, straight, not transgender, etc...   They give an example of  a casting notice says they need a character to play the ex-girlfriend of the lead for one scene.  It’s really vague and should open up casting to a variety of actors but that’s not what happens.  Casting defaults to the biases people may be aware of or biases they don’t know they have.

There’s also the Lethal Weapon example where when Danny Glover was suggested Richard Donner initial said no because Murtaugh isn’t black.  Luckily the casting director didn’t let it go and challenged Donner to find in the script where it says Murtaugh was white.  There was nothing in the script that dictated Murtaugh’s ethnicity.  Donnor was startled that he had defaulted to white. He was someone who was pro civil rights and participated in marches but had biases he wasn’t conciously aware of.   Diversity in casting requires conscious effort because it’s so easy to slip into bias.  Because bias can be unintentional, people need more training about developing awareness of biases and to be more flexible in casting choices.  People have to sit down and think about why it’s assumed a character must be a certain way instead of considering other options.

[Growsonwalls]

I feel like Some Like It Hot unlike Tootsie doesn't make dressing as a woman something dishonest or dishonorable. Joe and Jerry have to dress as a woman because they're about to be killed. I also think that Jack Lemmon's performance is a stellar example of drag comedy art, and that kind of art form does need to be respected as entirely different from the trans movement. For example, Billy Porter's Lola in Kinky Boots is an example of drag art. Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray as well.

The other thing I like about SLIH is that "Daphne" starts to sympathize with women more. Jerry would probably have written Sugar off as a empty-headed gold digger but Daphne gains greater understanding of her.

[tennisgurl]

8 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

In Some Like It Hot, neither Tony Curtis nor Jack Lemmon make the decision to dress as women to have a joke on women, but to save their literal hides. Once again, the joke is at their expense--not that of women or of cross-dressers or of transgender people--because the experience challenges their masculine self-identification. And also because the two characters are playing their idea of women--

I think thats really important to note, the joke of the movie isn't on trans people or even on men who enjoy dressing like women, the joke is that the interpretation that Joe and Jerry have of women are shallow and silly, and that eventually they, especially Joe, have to learn more about how women actually are and see them as people and see what they have to put up with. The joke is that these guys have to pretend to be women to not get murdered, and they comically suck at it because they dont understand women, not that some men like to dress like women, or towards trans people. Gender roles and their fluidity are a big theme of the movie, so the movie is less about being trans and more about how arbitrary conventional gender roles really are, especially in the late 50s where traditional gender roles were starting to be questioned. Then of course there is the plot with Jerry and Osgood, with Jerry getting increasingly invested in marrying Osgood, despite the fact that they're both men, and the famous ending. There is a lot to dig into there, its a lot more complicated than "men wearing dresses is funny and silly." 

In general, people pretending to be someone that they're not to get what they think they want is a big theme of the movie, and its only when masks start coming off and people start to realize they dont want what they thought they did (Joe wants sex, Sugar wants money, and both of them eventually realize they just want each other) that they can actually find their happy endings.

Edited June 29, 2020 by tennisgurl

[EtheltoTillie]

I'm really glad I posted my question, because people are posting some very thoughtful answers.  Since I don't like SLIH, I haven't analyzed it in such detail. 

My takeaway from the documentary was that the trans actors who were interviewed found it disturbing and confusing when they were young to see only comic portrayals or portrayals of psychos on screen.  The history of film was very informative.  I could see where SLIH, with the extreme adulation often given to it, might be triggering.

 

[Growsonwalls]

I also think that SLIH benefits from Jack Lemmon's performance. He really makes "Daphne" so likable and charming. I love the way he indicates his increasing comfort being Daphne by the body language changes in this tango.

As I said, I think drag performance art has a long enough history as a completely separate entity from the trans movement that both can co-exist. 

I think Mrs. Doubtfire is another movie where the motives of the person dressing up in drag is honorable enough that I don't think it's transphobic. 

[voiceover]

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad is on, and now I'm back in my 7th grade Unified Studies class, when Todd Pinney always led the boys in the film countdown til the technicolor model appeared -- wild cheering -- then the dashing, romantic Bernard Herrmann theme blasted the room apart, and I was always lost.

I've done plenty of sighing in these pages over Kerwin Mathews (my favorite fantasy leading man), so let this entry be in honor of of Kathryn Grant.

Pretty yet approachable, and unafraid of adventure.  She winds up being even more game than half of Sinbad's crew -- determined to push the bolt back on their cage, despite her first failed attempt; and it was *her idea to slide down the lamp's spout to talk to the genie.  Her gentle nature convinced the boy to give her the incantation, and afterwards, against his better judgment, Sinbad agreed to let her toss the lamp into the lava, so that 

Spoiler

the genie might be freed.

All this she managed with a twinkle in her eye, and very little screaming (hell, that sailors screamed more!).  And she did all that she, as a miniature of herself, was physically capable of doing.  She didn't throw the wizard down and stomp him to death.  Thank heavens.

[Rinaldo]

Just a paragraph in passing to take note that every time TCM shows Two for the Road, I'm a very happy viewer indeed. I own the DVD, but even so, I have to record it each time, just to see what's going to be said to introduce it. And more than likely, I'll stick around and watch it again. Audrey Hepburn + Albert Finney + Stanley Donen + Frederic Raphael + Henry Mancini + multiple road trips through France + nifty intricate structure = bliss for me.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

Just a paragraph in passing to take note that every time TCM shows Two for the Road, I'm a very happy viewer indeed. I own the DVD, but even so, I have to record it each time, just to see what's going to be said to introduce it. And more than likely, I'll stick around and watch it again. Audrey Hepburn + Albert Finney + Stanley Donen + Frederic Raphael + Henry Mancini + multiple road trips through France + nifty intricate structure = bliss for me.

Pure serendipity that we turned on the TV and up came TCM as Ben was doing his intro. We broomed our original viewing plan and watched this instead. It is a spectacular movie--maybe the best thing everybody involved ever did! (Don't forget Eleanor Bron.)

[bmoore4026]

Oh, Clash of the Titans, you delightfully camp cult classic.  The movie should be called "Watch Lawrence Olivier sleepwalk through a film, Maggie Smith being restrained actingwise, and the glory that is a half naked Harry Hamlin". 

One thing that irks me about this movie is that Perseus' mother gets cut out quite early.  The whole myth of Perseus actually revolves around her.  It's because of her that Perseus goes on his big journey.  Then again, this isn't supposed to be a 100% retelling of the story of Perseus and I love it regardless.  Also, the Medusa and Kraken are amazing.  Could have done without the annoying owl, though.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers update: Carl Reiner has died.

[tennisgurl]

12 hours ago, voiceover said:

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad is on, and now I'm back in my 7th grade Unified Studies class, when Todd Pinney always led the boys in the film countdown til the technicolor model appeared

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was the Svengoolie movie of the week on MeTV on Saturday (Saturday night weekly horror host) and its just a blast. The technicolor is so bright, the costumes so elaborate, the monsters so cool! You can see the early form of the skeletons that will later become famous in Jason and the Argonaunts, the cyclops, and especially the dragon still look great. The poor dragon though, chained up in a cave and then killed, not even the main character looked happy when he died. 

[benteen]

I saw Clash of the Titans earlier this year and I was really disappointed.  It was an early role for Harry Hamlin and it showed as he was terrible in it (he definitely got better as the years went on, ie his great turn on Mad Men).  Titans has a great cast but manages to largely waste them (Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith and Sian Phillips).  The movie is very slow and has surprisingly little action.  Even the special effects don't look like they've improved at all since Jason and the Argonauts 18 years earlier.  They were actually better in that movie.

Edited June 30, 2020 by benteen

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was the Svengoolie movie of the week on MeTV on Saturday (Saturday night weekly horror host) and its just a blast. The technicolor is so bright, the costumes so elaborate, the monsters so cool! You can see the early form of the skeletons that will later become famous in Jason and the Argonaunts, the cyclops, and especially the dragon still look great. The poor dragon though, chained up in a cave and then killed, not even the main character looked happy when he died. 

The cyclops scared the living be-jesus out of me when I saw this at the movies when I was 7. And also that horrible dance near the beginning in the sultan's palace, with the woman who turns green and grows arms or whatever. Bernard Herrmann, I blame you!

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, benteen said:

I saw Clash of the Titans earlier this year and I was really disappointed.  It was an early role for Harry Hamlin and it showed as he was terrible in it (he definitely got better as the years went on

I would say it's a matter of individual perception whether Harry Hamlin was "terrible" in the movie (or was, perhaps, as good as the material and the need to emote with not-yet-added monsters allowed), but he had already been very good on film -- certainly in Movie Movie (back to Stanley Donen!) and according to my distant memory in the miniseries Studs Lonigan. Then he made Making Love, and because he and Michael Ontkean played boyfriends in it, the offers for Hollywood movies stopped for both of them.

In case anybody doesn't know: The screenwriter for Clash of the Titans, Beverley Cross, was married to Maggie Smith at the time of filming. They remained married until his death in 1998.

[Robert Lynch]

 And Harry Hamlin's partner was Bond Girl Ursula Andress, who gave him a son.

[Luckylyn]

20 hours ago, GussieK said:

I'm really glad I posted my question, because people are posting some very thoughtful answers.  Since I don't like SLIH, I haven't analyzed it in such detail. 

My takeaway from the documentary was that the trans actors who were interviewed found it disturbing and confusing when they were young to see only comic portrayals or portrayals of psychos on screen.  The history of film was very informative.  I could see where SLIH, with the extreme adulation often given to it, might be triggering.

 

Finally saw Disclosure and it was really interesting and enlightening.  It really does establish the problematic patterns seen on screen.

[EtheltoTillie]

4 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I would say it's a matter of individual perception whether Harry Hamlin was "terrible" in the movie (or was, perhaps, as good as the material and the need to emote with not-yet-added monsters allowed), but he had already been very good on film -- certainly in Movie Movie (back to Stanley Donen!) and according to my distant memory in the miniseries Studs Lonigan. Then he made Making Love, and because he and Michael Ontkean played boyfriends in it, the offers for Hollywood movies stopped for both of them.

In case anybody doesn't know: The screenwriter for Clash of the Titans, Beverley Cross, was married to Maggie Smith at the time of filming. They remained married until his death in 1998.

Making Love.  What a howler!  Harry Hamlin ended up L.A. Law for a few years.

[Charlie Baker]

Among his many accomplishments (I will always love The Dick Van Dyke Show), Carl Reiner wrote and appeared in the very 60s,, very fun, Doris Day/James Garner comedy The Thrill of It All.

TCM has already aired and posted a TCM Remembers tribute, as always nicely done. Unfortunately on You Tube, it's marred by the logo and links to other videos at the end.

TCM Remembers Carl Reiner

[Charlie Baker]

Another loss: musician, arranger, composer of some lasting movie music

Johnny Mandel

[Charlie Baker]

I haven't done three posts in a row for quite some time, but I am compelled to note:

Olivia de Havilland is 104 today.

And Leslie Caron turns 89.

[MissT]

2 minutes ago, Charlie Baker said:

I haven't done three posts in a row for quite some time, but I am compelled to note:

Olivia de Havilland is 104 today.

And Leslie Caron turns 89.

I absolutely love Olivia de Havilland and I hope at the age of 104 she is doing well.  I haven't heard much about her recently, only that she lives in France.   One of my favorite movies is The Heiress.  I think I'll watch it tonight in her honor as I have it on my DVR. 

[bmoore4026]

Tonight are a bunch of feel good movies.  I'm guessing they're showing them to lighten the mood what with the pandemic and all that.

Pretty good line up:

Singing in the Rain - Five'll get ya ten Lina Lamont was a huge inspiration for Harley Quinn.

Annie - Loved this as a kid.  Still have a soft spot for it.  Carol Burnett should have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nomination, IMO.

Top Hat - Never saw it.  Probably won't be able to see it because I've been up since 5 AM and I need my sleep.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - And they give Beauty and the Beast crap for "being about Stockholm Syndrome".  Those idiots have never seen SBfSB.  If you hear someone one going on about the false Beauty and the Beast Stockholm Syndrome, kidnap this person, tie them to a chair, and force them to watch SBfSB.  Then ask them about their thoughts on Stockholm Syndrome.

Gigi - Never seen it.

[VCRTracking]

30 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - And they give Beauty and the Beast crap for "being about Stockholm Syndrome".  Those idiots have never seen SBfSB.  If you hear someone one going on about the false Beauty and the Beast Stockholm Syndrome, kidnap this person, tie them to a chair, and force them to watch SBfSB.  Then ask them about their thoughts on Stockholm Syndrome.

 

They'd probably go "Wow, Millie is a badass" and "Holy shit is that Julie Newmar?!"

[Growsonwalls]

33 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Top Hat - Never saw it.  Probably won't be able to see it because I've been up since 5 AM and I need my sleep.

You need to see it. It's probably my favorite Astaire/Rogers film. The chemistry between Astaire and Rogers was never more charming. Ironic because they did not get along in real life and definitely didn't get along during the filming of Top Hat.

 

[Rinaldo]

9 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

The chemistry between Astaire and Rogers was never more charming. Ironic because they did not get along in real life

That's perhaps a bit of an oversimplification. Like many enduring movie pairings there was resentment on both sides that was professional, not really personal, because they wanted to be valued as a solo attraction, not as half of a package deal. Probably especially so for Astaire, who throughout the 1920s had been part of a double act with his sister Adele (widely considered the stronger of the two), and then after her marriage he went into the movies and immediately found himself trapped in a different pairing through most of a decade. Still, there's reason to believe that they got along quite all right, once nobody assumed that they were inseparable, and they could look back on the partnership from a distance.

My own favorite among their movies is probably Swing Time, but Top Hat is a terrific choice too. If not now, then next time TCM shows it.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Re: Astaire and Rogers

From my understanding, they got along just fine for the most part. Did they get annoyed with each other sometimes? Sure, but you could get annoyed with the love of your life, so certainly a co-worker . They may not have been BFFs, but that's not a requisite for someone you work with, and I absolutely believe they had immense respect for each other.

[Growsonwalls]

18 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Re: Astaire and Rogers

From my understanding, they got along just fine for the most part. Did they get annoyed with each other sometimes? Sure, but you could get annoyed with the love of your life, so certainly a co-worker . They may not have been BFFs, but that's not a requisite for someone you work with, and I absolutely believe they had immense respect for each other.

My understanding was that Fred found Ginger's mother difficult. And Fred's wife was very jealous. Ginger Rogers used to pointedly refer to him as "Mr. Astaire." Fred always spoke well of Ginger in public.

ETA: this is probably my all-time favorite Astaire/Rogers dance:

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Growsonwalls

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

My own favorite among their movies is probably Swing Time, but Top Hat is a terrific choice too. If not now, then next time TCM shows it.

Top Hat is probably their more celebrated movie; although when it comes to playing favorites, it's Shall We Dance or Swing Time for me as well.

2 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Gigi - Never seen it.

I love Gigi. I suppose it can be considered a bit controversial in some respects but I don't care. I love the music. I love the costumes and I love the chemistry.

[GreekGeek]

8 hours ago, MissT said:

I absolutely love Olivia de Havilland and I hope at the age of 104 she is doing well.  I haven't heard much about her recently, only that she lives in France.   One of my favorite movies is The Heiress.  I think I'll watch it tonight in her honor as I have it on my DVR. 

Today was Olivia de Havilland's day on TCM, and I watched In This Our Life, in which she and Bette Davis played a pair of sisters named Stanley and Roy. (Why they have male names is never explained.) Davis had the flashier part of Stanley, a spoiled heartless bitch, and de Havilland was the plainer and more virtuous Roy. I'll never know why de Havilland always seemed to be cast as the less attractive of the female leads; she was beautiful! Anyway, this was a great melodrama; it even had a timely subplot about the racism in law enforcement. Stanley kills a little girl in a hit and run accident and tries to pin it on the family's chauffeur, knowing that the police won't take the word of a "colored boy" against hers.

[Rinaldo]

Here's my favorite Fred & Ginger dance (a close call among tons of worthy candidates). It comes early in Swing Time, when he's been smitten with her (a dance instructor) at first sight, and has pretended to be a klutz so she'll teach him. Our clip begins when she loses patience with him, gets fired for it, and Fred comes to her defense. Then magic happens:

Despite all the elegant and famous evening gowns she wore in the series, this is my favorite of her movie dresses. I'm absurdly charmed by the way she picks up its hem when she gets moving. 

Two other points to admire: (1) the series' standard procedure of full-body shots in long takes for dances, so we can really feel the tension of their work build as if on a stage; (2) the little hop-hop-step that they keep doing is the very step she was trying to teach him in the lesson.

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

Today was Olivia de Havilland's day on TCM, and I watched In This Our Life, in which she and Bette Davis played a pair of sisters named Stanley and Roy. (Why they have male names is never explained.) Davis had the flashier part of Stanley, a spoiled heartless bitch, and de Havilland was the plainer and more virtuous Roy. I'll never know why de Havilland always seemed to be cast as the less attractive of the female leads; she was beautiful! Anyway, this was a great melodrama; it even had a timely subplot about the racism in law enforcement. Stanley kills a little girl in a hit and run accident and tries to pin it on the family's chauffeur, knowing that the police won't take the word of a "colored boy" against hers.

To me the standout performance was by Ernest Anderson. Who went on to play porters and butlers for the rest of his life.

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Here's my favorite Fred & Ginger dance (a close call among tons of worthy candidates). It comes early in Swing Time, when he's been smitten with her (a dance instructor) at first sight, and has pretended to be a klutz so she'll teach him. Our clip begins when she loses patience with him, gets fired for it, and Fred comes to her defense. Then magic happens:

Despite all the elegant and famous evening gowns she wore in the series, this is my favorite of her movie dresses. I'm absurdly charmed by the way she picks up its hem when she gets moving. 

Two other points to admire: (1) the series' standard procedure of full-body shots in long takes for dances, so we can really feel the tension of their work build as if on a stage; (2) the little hop-hop-step that they keep doing is the very step she was trying to teach him in the lesson.

Yes I’ve always liked this number. I love the way they go over the little fence. 

[EtheltoTillie]

11 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Tonight are a bunch of feel good movies.  I'm guessing they're showing them to lighten the mood what with the pandemic and all that.

Pretty good line up:

Singing in the Rain - Five'll get ya ten Lina Lamont was a huge inspiration for Harley Quinn.

Annie - Loved this as a kid.  Still have a soft spot for it.  Carol Burnett should have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nomination, IMO.

Top Hat - Never saw it.  Probably won't be able to see it because I've been up since 5 AM and I need my sleep.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - And they give Beauty and the Beast crap for "being about Stockholm Syndrome".  Those idiots have never seen SBfSB.  If you hear someone one going on about the false Beauty and the Beast Stockholm Syndrome, kidnap this person, tie them to a chair, and force them to watch SBfSB.  Then ask them about their thoughts on Stockholm Syndrome.

Gigi - Never seen it.

Thanks for the Gigi reminder. I’m up late and watching it now. Never registered with me that this won best picture. Up against stiff competition, including another favorite of mine, Auntie Mame.  It’s wonderful. The score and orchestration are so lush, and the colors. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by GussieK

[Milburn Stone]

8 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

To me the standout performance was by Ernest Anderson. Who went on to play porters and butlers for the rest of his life.

This received one "laughing face" reaction from a board user, so I want to be clear that my meaning is anything but funny. Ernest Anderson was criminally (and I almost mean that literally) misused by Hollywood. His In This Our Life performance as Parry Clay under John Huston is so magnificent--I really mean it when I say it's the best performance in the film, despite competition from Davis and de Havilland--that a look at his post-ITOL filmography saddens the mind terribly. It is a succession of menials and servants with either no lines or very few. Many of them uncredited. Sometimes he's just called Black Man. He worked a lot--imdb shows 28 films after ITOL--but with the very rare possible exception, never in a role commensurate with his talent. You don't need to have seen all the movies to know this. The imdb filmography shows the official title of each part he played, and in practically no part does his character even have a name.

Edited July 2, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[Luckylyn]

I’m a big fan of Ginger Rogers.  My favorite movies with her are Bachelor Mother with David Niven and Once Upon a Honeymoon with Cary Grant.   

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

This received one "laughing face" reaction from a board user, so I want to be clear that my meaning is anything but funny. Ernest Anderson was criminally (and I almost mean that literally) misused by Hollywood. His In This Our Life performance as Parry Clay under John Huston is so magnificent--I really mean it when I say it's the best performance in the film, despite competition from Davis and de Havilland--that a look at his post-ITOL filmography saddens the mind terribly. It is a succession of menials and servants with either no lines or very few. Many of them uncredited. Sometimes he's just called Black Man. He worked a lot--imdb shows 28 films after ITOL--but with the very rare possible exception, never in a role commensurate with his talent. You don't need to have seen all the movies to know this. The imdb filmography shows the official title of each part he played, and in practically no part does his character even have a name.

Thanks for the heads up.  I quickly added a laugh, 'cause I thought you were referring to the guy in the scene who had fired Ginger Rogers. 

[Inquisitionist]

23 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

I haven't done three posts in a row for quite some time, but I am compelled to note:

Olivia de Havilland is 104 today.

And Leslie Caron turns 89.

I am pleased to share my birthday with the two of them but especially Olivia.  Not sure how recent this photo is, but she is my badass hero. 

[mariah23]

54 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

I am pleased to share my birthday with the two of them but especially Olivia.  Not sure how recent this photo is, but she is my badass hero. 

They said it was last year you know when she was only 103.

[AuntiePam]

23 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

Today was Olivia de Havilland's day on TCM, and I watched In This Our Life, in which she and Bette Davis played a pair of sisters named Stanley and Roy. (Why they have male names is never explained.) Davis had the flashier part of Stanley, a spoiled heartless bitch, and de Havilland was the plainer and more virtuous Roy. I'll never know why de Havilland always seemed to be cast as the less attractive of the female leads; she was beautiful! Anyway, this was a great melodrama; it even had a timely subplot about the racism in law enforcement. Stanley kills a little girl in a hit and run accident and tries to pin it on the family's chauffeur, knowing that the police won't take the word of a "colored boy" against hers.

I missed the first few minutes and thought maybe the name thing was explained but no. I t was confusing, figuring out the relationships, who was married to whom. Charles Coburn's lechery was a bit of a shock. I confess to laughing at Stanley's "kill or cure" line. 

[bmoore4026]

Tonight's movie theme is all about horseys, apparently.  Never cared for horse movies, myself.  Props for Westerns.  That's what I think of movie horses.

[bmoore4026]

Yes, yes, yes.  My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and Stagecoach are on tonight.  But The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 is on TCM Underground tonight!

[Notwisconsin]

I got 1776 and Yankee Doodle Dandy on the DVR que right now. The former has lots of sexual innuendo and it's really tame, although it was only four years after the Hays office closed. I'm glad that they put back the "cool cool men" number, as it adds to the film immensely. 

Also, as to the latter, I recently found out that James Cagney's sister is played by James Cagney's sister. She didn't have much of a career, did she?