TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[MissAlmond]

5 hours ago, voiceover said:

It’s more of a “That much for a movie???” thing.

@voiceoverYou know you want to do it. Go! Enjoy yourself.

5 hours ago, voiceover said:

Ha.  No one’s chasing me

After overhearing a woman openly stating she was spending rent money at the casino tables, I always add a caveat LOL. 

Edited September 22 by MissAlmond

[Charlie Baker]

Given your love of Valentino and the silents, @voiceover,  I think you'd regret not going. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow...😉

[Palimelon]

Yeah, but after all... tomorrow is another day...

[voiceover]

*bows to the thread*

Thanks to those who contributed your thoughtful (and occasionally hilarious) two cents.

All of you are right.  I think I just needed someone who wasn’t my id saying, “Do it!”

And a couple points occurred to me:

1. If they were screening Son of the Sheik, I’d’ve already bought the ticket.  For the front row.  It’s Valentino’s best, in the duel roles of Dad (from The Sheik) and progeny.  Plus that kiss with Vilma Banky melts the silver off the screen.  A two-story-high version of that?  Priceless.

2. If it was any — A.N.Y. — of Ramon Novarro’s silents, I’d be at the box office when they opened, saying “This is all the cash I have on me.  If you need more, I can call Zurich & move some money around..”

[Tom Holmberg]

On 9/22/2024 at 8:16 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

A silent movie with live music is always amazing. 

Saw Abel Gance's amazing "Napoleon" with a live orchestra - worth every penny of the admission. Hopefully, the newly fully-restored 7-hour version will be showing around the US with an orchestra sometime soon.

[Rinaldo]

5 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Saw Abel Gance's amazing "Napoleon" with a live orchestra - worth every penny of the admission. Hopefully, the newly fully-restored 7-hour version will be showing around the US with an orchestra sometime soon.

I saw it too, during its Chicago run. An irreplaceable experience. Including the sensation of being in a big theater full of real movie buffs.

I really wonder if the fully restored version could ever have a similar run. The Coppola restoration (with an original score by his father) that I saw in 1981 was contained to 4 hours by playing it at sound speed (24 frames per second instead of 20) and deleting a self-contained side plot, and even so, the orchestra had to be given a break by using organ only for one sequence. The economics of hiring a full orchestra for a 7-hour running time (even if broken by a dinner intermission) would probably guarantee a monetary loss at each performance, and limit screenings to subsidized one-night special events.

Making the movie available on home video is also bound to be compromised visually because of the final 3-screen triptych; either the whole movie gets letterboxed which means that the screen size seems too small for one's TV, or letterboxing is used only for that final sequence which means that the image suddenly gets miniaturized.

[Tom Holmberg]

19 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

The economics of hiring a full orchestra for a 7-hour running time (even if broken by a dinner intermission) would probably guarantee a monetary loss at each performance, and limit screenings to subsidized one-night special events.

I saw it at the Chicago Theatre as well.

It's playing in France at theaters.  At Cannes I know it showed over two days, which might be tough for any theater but something like the Film Center in Chicago. I saw the silent "Fantomas" there and I believe it ran over two days.

[Charlie Baker]

Well,  Eddie Muller had a busy weekend.  Too bad the Noir Alley, Split Second, isn't on Watch TCM.  It's a very watchable mix of atomic bomb paranoia from the 50s and noir, spinning off from the Petrified Forest trope of a mix of types, some criminal, stuck at a remote desert spot.  Directed by Dick Powell.  Hopefully it turns up again before too long.

Earlier on Saturday, Eddie had a conversation with Carl Franklin about his two quite fine neo-noirs,  Devil in a Blue Dress,  which I know has some fans here, and the very tough One False Move, which is also a reminder that we lost Bill Paxton too soon.  Sunday night Eddie was with Francis Ford Coppola, promoting his new opus, but programming two 30s screwball comedies (!). All of that appears to be on Watch TCM.

And TCM will be repeating Two for Ones, the double features programmed by filmmakers on Saturday evenings starting next month, in case you didn't see the promos.  Some interesting talk and pairings. 

[voiceover]

13 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Devil in a Blue Dress,  which I know has some fans here

You rang?

Yeah I still hate that they didn’t do one or two more of the Easy Rawlins mysteries.   Might have taken off as a streaming series, if such a thing had existed then.  Denzel was so terrific as the man with the slightly-muddy morals who was nonetheless a hero when all was said & done.

And Don Cheadle as Mouse…”Want me to shoot this sumbitch, Easy?”  Pinged me right back to Wild Bunch and Bill Holden saying, “If they move, kill ‘em!”

[Milburn Stone]

On 9/25/2024 at 10:38 AM, Charlie Baker said:

Earlier on Saturday, Eddie had a conversation with Carl Franklin about his two quite fine neo-noirs,  Devil in a Blue Dress,  which I know has some fans here, and the very tough One False Move...

It's a major crime (within the world of cinema, anyway) that Carl Franklin didn't get more movies. Both of those movies are not only excellent, they're excellent in large part because their director has such firm control of their tone. (Which is so rare.) One False Move is one of the best late period noirs ever made.

His name pops up as the director of some television episodes I've watched. And maybe if I looked at the imdb I'd discover some movie credits for him that I don't know about. But he really should have had a big career. Who knows why it didn't happen. 

[Tom Holmberg]

Tomorrow, Friday Sept 27 TCM will be running "The Tin Drum."  Haven't seen it since its release.  Will be watching it.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers Dame Maggie Smith who passed away today at age 89.

[Tom Holmberg]

Don't know if this has come up before, but Eddie Muller has a magazine he helps edits, "Noir City".

 

NOIR CITY, the acclaimed magazine of the Film Noir Foundation, now available in print!

Issue #41 takes a look at noir films with complicated and controversial productions. The cover story, “Queen of the Cutters,” sees Mary Mallory discuss the career of editor Viola Lawrence, and the role that she played in shaping Orson Welles’ confounding masterpiece The Lady from Shanghai.

Also in this issue:

Carsten Andresen reexamines the legacy of William Friedkin’s 1980 release Cruising; Jason A. Ney digs into the history of the criminally underseen film Finger Man; Drew Smith charts the brief yet vibrant history of lesbian noir through films like Bound and Love Lies Bleeding; Kenny Reid shines a light on the Spanish thriller Marshland; Dan Akira places a recent D.O.A. remake in the context of its varied predecessors; Steve Kronenberg makes a case for the compelling sci-fi noir The Hidden; and Stefen Styrsky unpacks the fascinating subsect of crime films that revolve around plastic surgery. Plus book reviews, film reviews, and more.

 

Available through Amazon

[Rinaldo]

On 9/26/2024 at 1:06 AM, voiceover said:

Yeah I still hate that they didn’t do one or two more of the Easy Rawlins mysteries.   Might have taken off as a streaming series, if such a thing had existed then.  Denzel was so terrific as the man with the slightly-muddy morals who was nonetheless a hero when all was said & done.

And Don Cheadle as Mouse…”Want me to shoot this sumbitch, Easy?”  Pinged me right back to Wild Bunch and Bill Holden saying, “If they move, kill ‘em!”

Yes, I thought the movie worked like gangbusters, and surely would lead to the filming of more of the Easy Rawlins books. Didn't happen, and who knows why. Maybe Rawlins's sometimes-shady actions were deemed insufficiently noble or heroic; I myself admired the heck out of Washington for playing that side of the character so fully, when he might so easily have played the Movie Star card of "I want my character to be likable at every moment."

And Don Cheadle... I think his Mouse was especially startling (and funny!) at the time because to most of the audience (me included) he was known only as the righteous D.A. on the concurrent Picket Fences. (And his TV guest shots before that had been pretty standard stuff.) This was our first hint that he was a full-range actor ready to take on just about anything.

I remember Carl Franklin as an actor on 1970s TV -- most specifically in an episode of Lou Grant. He's a terrific director, and it's a shame we don't have more movies from him. He seems to have settled into prestige TV work. 

[Palimelon]

 

[EtheltoTillie]

I watched Split Second last week.  What a dark ending. Definitely worth watching. 

[Milburn Stone]

Thanks for posting that TCM remembrance of Maggie Smith, @Palimelon. What  do we suppose they mean when they say (in their X post) "THR remembers her here"? What is THR?

[Palimelon]

THR = The Hollywood Reporter.

[EtheltoTillie]

I hadn’t seen One False Move, also by Carl Franklin. Eddie Muller had him for an interview. This is a terrifying film, like a Coen Brothers gore fest without the black humor. Bill Paxton had an amazing moment where he overhears the LA cops making fun of him. So much emotion crossing his face. 

Catch the interview on Watch TCM even if you don’t rewatch the movie. 

[Charlie Baker]

Sorry this one got by me.  Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni's birth, and TCM devoted last night to him, with a break for Noir Alley. 8 1/2, A Special Day, La Notte, White Nights. Quite the coincidence that he was almost exactly ten years older than his wonderful screen partner, Sophia Loren. 

[Milburn Stone]

15 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I hadn’t seen One False Move, also by Carl Franklin. Eddie Muller had him for an interview. This is a terrifying film, like a Coen Brothers gore fest without the black humor. Bill Paxton had an amazing moment where he overhears the LA cops making fun of him. So much emotion crossing his face. 

Catch the interview on Watch TCM even if you don’t rewatch the movie. 

Yeah. I remember thinking, when that movie and Devil Blue Dress came out, "who is this fantastic young black director that I've never heard of?!?? He may be in the top 3 of all American directors working today!!!"

I'm sure (and am happy) that he's making a very good living doing episodic television, and anything he does turns out really good, but he can't really put his on stamp on the form. The show runners are the creative heads.

I will find the interview. Does he discuss how his career took a turn?

[Crashcourse]

17 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I hadn’t seen One False Move, also by Carl Franklin. Eddie Muller had him for an interview. This is a terrifying film, like a Coen Brothers gore fest without the black humor. Bill Paxton had an amazing moment where he overhears the LA cops making fun of him. So much emotion crossing his face. 

Catch the interview on Watch TCM even if you don’t rewatch the movie. 

One False Move was the first movie I'd seen Michael Beach in, and he was terrific as the brutal, knife-obsessed, psychopathic killer.  I cheered when he was finally killed.

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

One False Move was the first movie I'd seen Michael Beach in, and he was terrific as the brutal, knife-obsessed, psychopathic killer.  I cheered when he was finally killed.

True!  Franklin discusses this in the interview.  He was afraid Beach would never get cast in anything after that.

@Milburn Stone I'm afraid they don't get into Franklin's career change.

4 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Sorry this one got by me.  Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni's birth, and TCM devoted last night to him, with a break for Noir Alley. 8 1/2, A Special Day, La Notte, White Nights. Quite the coincidence that he was almost exactly ten years older than his wonderful screen partner, Sophia Loren. 

I was wondering why they were showing all of those movies! 

[Crashcourse]

27 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

True!  Franklin discusses this in the interview.  He was afraid Beach would never get cast in anything after that.

Yeah, I'm glad I've seen him in many other movies and tv shows since then. 

[PaulaO]

OMG, Withnail & I is scheduled to be shown October 6 at 2:45 am CST.  I’ve been wanting to see it for years.  Richard E. Grant’s first role.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers Kris Kristofferson who passed away Saturday at age 88.

 

 

[EtheltoTillie]

This weekend I also watched Three Days of the Condor.  Also had never seen it.  This was part of the political movie series.  Ben Mank interviews NYT columnist Maureen Dowd.

I loved this movie!  Just so exciting and well thought out, a really well plotted spy thriller.  Professor Kingsfield doing a full Kingsfield.  Max Von Sydow was so sneaky and fun.  So many NYC scenes I could recognize. 

But really, that gratuitous sex scene between Redford and Dunaway, come on. We didn't need that.  Even in 1975 that would have made me uncomfortable.  I was never a swinging single.  I always felt men took advantage of the "sexual revolution" to get more casual sex.  If it sounded like a pickup line, I was running the other way.  Here, the handwave is that they might die the next day, and he's Robert Redford, everyone's hall pass.  Sorry I have no hall pass. 

MoDow reveals that her fantasy is meeting Redford at the NYT headquarters at the end of the movie and being the reporter that gets his story.  Then she would walk into the sunset with him.  Oh, well.

Anyway, still a great movie.  Would love to hear other opinions.   

I also tried watching Where Eagles Dare, and that plot was impossible to follow.  Since everyone was wearing a Nazi uniform, I couldn't figure out who was good and bad. 

Edited September 30 by EtheltoTillie

[Fool to cry]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:09 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

This weekend I also watched Three Days of the Condor.  Also had never seen it.  This was part of the political movie series.  Ben Mank interviews NYT columnist Maureen Dowd.

I loved this movie!  Just so exciting and well thought out, a really well plotted spy thriller.  Professor Kingsfield doing a full Kingsfield.  Max Von Sydow was so sneaky and fun.  So many NYC scenes I could recognize. 

But really, that gratuitous sex scene between Redford and Dunaway, come on. We didn't need that.  Even in 1975 that would have made me uncomfortable.  I was never a swinging single.  I always felt men took advantage of the "sexual revolution" to get more casual sex.  If it sounded like a pickup line, I was running the other way.  Here, the handwave is that they might die the next day, and he's Robert Redford, everyone's hall pass.  Sorry I have no hall pass. 

MoDow reveals that her fantasy is meeting Redford at the NYT headquarters at the end of the movie and being the reporter that gets his story.  Then she would walk into the sunset with him.  Oh, well.

Anyway, still a great movie.  Would love to hear other opinions. 

I just watched the original Rollerball with James Caan made the same year and both have John Houseman as the villain. I love that after his Oscar winning role in 1973's The Paper Chase Houseman had a career resurgence in his 70s.

Edited October 3 by Fool to cry

[Tom Holmberg]

Memorial Tribute - James Earl Jones - Oct. 27th

 

And now for something completely different:

Oct. 2 - Donald Sutherland and Gene Wilder in "Start the Revolution Without Me"

"And I shall be Queen..."

Edited September 30 by Tom Holmberg

[Suzn]

3 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

And now for something completely different:

Oct. 2 - Donald Sutherland and Gene Wilder in "Start the Revolution Without Me"

"And I shall be Queen..."

I love that movie!  It never has gotten credit it deserves.

[Tom Holmberg]

15 hours ago, Suzn said:

I love that movie!  It never has gotten credit it deserves.

It predates the Mel Brooks movie parodies, but is definitely a precursor.

[bmoore4026]

Just finished The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.  God, Errol Flynn looked great in a pair of tights.

[voiceover]

They did *not like each other.  Flynn writes about it in his memoir (My Wicked, Wicked Ways).  He gleefully admits to smacking her behind so hard during a scene that she flew up in the air.  Might have been retribution for the slap the Queen gives Essex: Bette was wearing a lot of rings & Errol said he felt all of ‘em.  If you’ve seen that moment, you may remember his death glare right after.

It’s a shame, too.  I think they were so well-matched, and I can’t say that for most of Bette’s leading men.

[Charlie Baker]

I liked Three Days of the Condor very much.   Redford at his coolest, with good chemistry with Dunaway, Von Sydow and Robertson very good, and slickly capturing the anxious feel of its era.

I seem to be reporting on Noir Alley pretty regularly--have to mention this past week's selection, High Wall, a smartly done psychology-of-its-time thriller. Robert Taylor in a demanding role of a man who may have killed his wife and doesn't remember if he did, Audrey Totter dressed down as a coolly efficient psychiatrist, smooth as always Herbert Marshall as the late woman's employer.  Some of the details are fudged, and the romantic angle is sort of shoved in late--but it's another good one I hadn't been exposed to. 

Next week--Detour, which I've seen a number of times, but I won't be able to resist Eddie's commentary.  In previewing it, he called it "sixty-eight minutes of grungy glory" and termed Ann Savage a most memorable femme fatale, "a hitchhiking harpy from hell."

Edited October 2 by Charlie Baker

[StatisticalOutlier]

40 minutes ago, Charlie Baker said:

I seem to be reporting on Noir Alley pretty regularly

And just so you know, I really appreciate it even though I almost never comment myself.

[Rinaldo]

12 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Just finished The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.  God, Errol Flynn looked great in a pair of tights.

For those moved to investigate Flynn further, I cautiously offer a blog entry by Tommy Krasker, wherein (in a format similar to his essay about Margaret Sullavan, which I linked here a while back) he examines each of Errol Flynn's movie performances. Tommy acknowledges the problems created by Flynn's offscreen life, but maintains that he hasn't had his due as an actor. And at the same time he's always willing to acknowledge which performances and films are not so good. It's fun reading for the movie-minded.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

For those moved to investigate Flynn further, I cautiously offer a blog entry by Tommy Krasker, wherein (in a format similar to his essay about Margaret Sullavan, which I linked here a while back) he examines each of Errol Flynn's movie performances.

I have only known Krasker's name as the producer of some wonderful cast albums and other recordings by theatrical artists.

Suffice it to say I am blown away by his depth of insight re Flynn's performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood. I am so happy to be introduced to this blog--thank you, @Rinaldo. And also happy that it is a blog Krasker is keeping up. This is not one of those blogs that stopped getting new entries in 2008. I look forward to reading more of his writing on movies and television.

[Palimelon]

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

The other day I turned on the radio to NPR and Scott Simon was doing a thing about Maggie Smith, and said she'd exited the stage.  I thought, "Oh, she retired."

[Tom Holmberg]

Today TCM is running "Invaders from Mars", one of my favorite movies as a kid.  Who didn't suspect their parents' minds were taken over by aliens?

[Charlie Baker]

Mario Cantone is back with Ben for Creepy Cinema, starting tonight and on October Thursdays.  How could they not begin with two of Mario's favorite women, Joan Crawford (Sudden Fear) and Bette Davis (In This Our Life)?

[Tom Holmberg]

On Sunday TCM shows one of my guilty pleasures, "Slap Shot" (1977). This movie was mostly panned when it was released (Rex Reed said it was "revolting"), but later found an audience on video.  Famously, Gene Siskel, admitted to regretting giving it a mediocre review, saying this was his worst mistake in a review and made it a runner-up in his top 10 for the year of release..

[Milburn Stone]

19 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

On Sunday TCM shows one of my guilty pleasures, "Slap Shot" (1977). This movie was mostly panned when it was released (Rex Reed said it was "revolting"), but later found an audience on video.

Am I remembering correctly (I might not be) that Pauline Kael liked it?

[EtheltoTillie]

On 10/3/2024 at 3:00 PM, Tom Holmberg said:

On Sunday TCM shows one of my guilty pleasures, "Slap Shot" (1977). This movie was mostly panned when it was released (Rex Reed said it was "revolting"), but later found an audience on video.  Famously, Gene Siskel, admitted to regretting giving it a mediocre review, saying this was his worst mistake in a review and made it a runner-up in his top 10 for the year of release..

I watched this again a couple of months ago. It was a hoot. 
Your memory appears to be correct @Milburn Stone

Edited October 5 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

PSA:  Ethel’s recommendations for this week.
 

Besides Mario’s movies I am watching the political movies. 
First up The Best Man.  Ben Mank joined by brother Josh Mank. Then The Times of Harvey Milk. Ben joined by Dame Sally Field. 

Tonight if you have never seen Kurosawa’s High and Low, you must watch. It’s a noir film based on an Ed McBain novel.  

[SunnyBeBe]

Does anyone recall the name of a movie about the last few days of Judy Garland’s life?  Most scenes take place in the flat Judy and her husband were staying and involves her friends who are concerned about her and her husband.  It’s not new…..probably at least 6 years old.  It’s not the bio movie with Zellwenger. 

[EtheltoTillie]

48 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Does anyone recall the name of a movie about the last few days of Judy Garland’s life?  Most scenes take place in the flat Judy and her husband were staying and involves her friends who are concerned about her and her husband.  It’s not new…..probably at least 6 years old.  It’s not the bio movie with Zellwenger. 

There's a 2001 mini series with Judy Davis.  ????  I don't recall any movie like what you are mentioning.

[SunnyBeBe]

17 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

There's a 2001 mini series with Judy Davis.  ????  I don't recall any movie like what you are mentioning.

I’ll check it out. Thanks.  The one I saw is clear in my mind as there’s a scene where Judy’s husband can’t get into the bathroom where she is.  He is frantic.  Hmmm….I hate it when I can’t locate a film I saw years ago.  Hopefully, I’ll run across it.  

[EtheltoTillie]

Let us know if you find it. 

[Palimelon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Judy_Garland_biographies#Film_and_video