TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Charlie Baker]

I think I mentioned before I don't have strong opinions one way or another about George Raft.  He's this month's featured star, but they included a movie in which he has a small part--Taxi!  This is pure early 1930s Warner Brothers with two wonderful stars, lovely Loretta Young and firing-on-all-cylinders James Cagney.  Try it if you haven't seen it.  On Watch TCM for about a month.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers David Lynch who passed away at age 78.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers Dame Joan Plowright who passed away yesterday at age 95.

[voiceover]

I loved Plowright’s Mrs Fisher in Enchanted April, and her general astonishment at the young women in her house party (“Husbands were taken seriously, as the only true obstacle to sin!”).  Yes: she was one of those Dames, who joked in the film of that name that her American agent had promised her any role that Judi Dench “hadn’t got her paws on”.

[Fool to cry]

She was Baylene in Dinosaur!

[EtheltoTillie]

On 1/12/2025 at 9:17 PM, mariah23 said:

TCM Remembers Claude Jarman Jr. who was the last surviving member of this iconic photo.

You can catch Jarman in Intruder In the Dust, which was coincidentally shown yesterday as part of MLK Day films.  It’s on Watch TCM.  Bonus casting for EtheltoTillie is I Love Lucy’s neighbor Mrs. Trumble in a major role.

[Charlie Baker]

Elizabeth Patterson had one of those long character actor careers with parts of varying sizes.  She turns up in two favorites of mine in substantial roles, one of the aunts in Love Me Tonight, and Fred MacMurray's aunt in Remember the Night.   She's also the matriarch in Tobacco Road.  (She was also the justice of the peace's wife on the I Love Lucy Lucy-thinks-she-isn't-legally-married episode before Mrs. Trumbull.)  Always nice to see her. 

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Elizabeth Patterson had one of those long character actor careers with parts of varying sizes.  She turns up in two favorites of mine in substantial roles, one of the aunts in Love Me Tonight, and Fred MacMurray's aunt in Remember the Night.   She's also the matriarch in Tobacco Road.  (She was also the justice of the peace's wife on the I Love Lucy Lucy-thinks-she-isn't-legally-married episode before Mrs. Trumbull.)  Always nice to see her. 

Thanks for the reminder of Remember the Night.  Two favorite actors, Patterson and Beulah Bondi.

Is that how you spell Mrs. Trumbull?  I've never seen it written out!

[graybrown bird]

Any mention of "Love Me Tonight" makes me happy.  And I love Elizabeth Patterson in it!

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, graybrown bird said:

Any mention of "Love Me Tonight" makes me happy.

I watched it last night thanks to it being mentioned here.  I'm making it a point to close out each night by getting in bed and watching something familiar and funny, and that fit the bill!

[voiceover]

Elizabeth P also played the housekeepers in I Married a Witch (love her in the last scene when she declares that the child of the lead characters is just a bit *too much her mother’s daughter) and the 1949 Little Women.  I would like to see her get her own “Summer Under the Stars” day.

[Fool to cry]

Found this interesting vid that makes a good point.

 

 

[Milburn Stone]

I had to wiki Elizabeth Patterson. She was born in 1874! (I mean, of course she was, but it still blows my mind.) Her father fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side, since the family lived in Tennessee. I'd like to think that her role in Intruder in the Dust was a kind of expiation for that, not that I'm in any position to judge who needs expiation or not.

[Charlie Baker]

Paul Newman centennial tribute tomorrow.

[Charlie Baker]

An article on TCM in 2025. Sounds good.

Hollywood Reporter: TCM Film Festival and More 

[Charlie Baker]

Well, I certainly didn't intend to have three consecutive posts here, but I just watched Noir Alley, the last one until March, and wanted to post about it before it could slip my aging mind.  It's a rarity called Woman on the Run, restored with the help of Eddie Muller's Film Noir Foundation.   It's the story of Ann Sheridan trying to help her husband who witnessed a mob hit and doesn't want to become part of any criminal investigation.  He's on the lam, she's hounded by the police, and helped by tabloid reporter Dennis O"Keefe who wants an exclusive on their story. Lots of San Francisco locations and a pretty suspenseful and wild finale. Eddie is joined by director and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, who had vague memories of this movie from his childhood, seeing it on TV.  Their conversation is good stuff.  On Watch TCM until 2/24.

 

[hypnotoad]

I really enjoyed Woman on the Run - one of my favorites on noir alley for sure. Pretty bummed the show won't be on for a month ... again!

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, hypnotoad said:

Pretty bummed the show won't be on for a month ... again!

Oh, but I can't be bummed by the return of 31 Days of Oscar!

https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming Article/021882/31-days-of-oscar

This year, as catalogued in the article, it's yet another method of organization: shared nomination category during the day, shared character category evenings and overnight. I'm especially looking forward to Oscar-Worthy [I refuse to give up my hyphen for compound adjectives] Prostitutes, Patients, Alcoholics, and Heiresses. I'm ready and waiting.

[Charlie Baker]

Gene Hackman turns 95 today, and TCM has a slate of his movies tonight.

[Rinaldo]

On 1/30/2025 at 1:57 PM, Charlie Baker said:

Gene Hackman turns 95 today, and TCM has a slate of his movies tonight.

I remember when I first became aware of Gene Hackman (Bonnie and Clyde and then I Never Sang for My Father), I said something like, "He's such a good actor, and he'll probably never have a big career because he doesn't 'look like a movie star'." Wow, I'm an amazing predictor, huh? 🙄 I do that kind of idiocy again and again; I remember also recalling "Farrah Fawcett was promoted as the Big New Thing in Myra Breckinridge... boy, that's a career that went nowhere" (and two months later Charlie's Angels happened), and "I keep seeing Don Johnson in these nothing movies, I guess the ship has sailed on the possibility of stardom for him" (and the following year we got Miami Vice), and "That Ted Danson was memorable in his bits in The Onion Field and Body Heat, and he's not bad-looking, but apparently he's never going to make that step to leading roles" (you guessed it; immediately after I said it, Cheers). I take pride in being the worst predictor ever.

Edited February 2 by Rinaldo

[Fool to cry]

A lot of us 80s kids first saw Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Same as Ned Beatty as his bumbling henchman Otis(probably to his relief)!

[EtheltoTillie]

22 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I remember when I first became aware of Gene Hackman (Bonnie and Clyde and then I Never Sang for My Father), I said something like, "He's such a good actor, and he'll probably never have a big career because he doesn't 'look like a movie star'." Wow, I'm an amazing predictor, huh? 🙄 I do that kind of idiocy again and again; I remember also recalling "Farrah Fawcett was promoted as the Big New Thing in Myra Breckinridge... boy, that's a career that went nowhere" (and two months later Charlie's Angels happened), and "I keep seeing Don Johnson in this nothing movies, I guess the ship has sailed on the possibility of stardom for him" (and the following year we got Miami Vice), and "That Ted Danson was memorable in his bits in The Onion Field and Body Heat, and he's not bad-looking, but apparently he's never going to make that step to leading roles" (you guessed it; immediately after I said it, Cheers). I take pride in being the worst predictor ever.

I would not have predicted Ted Danson’s mammoth success in comedy from those two early roles. 

[Crashcourse]

While I enjoy watching TCM movies, the sound quality in some of the movies is frustrating.  I was watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers last night, and I could barely hear them talking so I had to turn the volume waaaay up.  Then, when they started singing, I had to turn it back down.   I'm watching A Passage to India now and, again, depending on the scene, the volume changes. 

[chessiegal]

33 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

While I enjoy watching TCM movies, the sound quality in some of the movies is frustrating.  I was watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers last night, and I could barely hear them talking so I had to turn the volume waaaay up.  Then, when they started singing, I had to turn it back down.   I'm watching A Passage to India now and, again, depending on the scene, the volume changes. 

You might want to check the sound settings on your tv. I had a problem with uneven sound, and I found a setting for sound that evened it out.

[Charlie Baker]

31 Days of Oscar is in full swing, but hopefully we'll get a full tribute at some point.  For Jack Lemmon was born 100 years ago today.

[EtheltoTillie]

I just heard Tony Roberts died yesterday. Is there a TCM remembers?

He was in an Oscar winning film. 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 2/8/2025 at 8:29 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

I just heard Tony Roberts died yesterday. Is there a TCM remembers?

He was in an Oscar winning film. 

He was in a number of Woody Allen films, often as Allen's goyim.

[Fool to cry]

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

He was in a number of Woody Allen films, often as Allen's goyim.

Before I had ever seen a Woody Allen movie I first heard of Tony Roberts when Adam Sandler impersonated him in this 1992 SNL sketch:

 

 

[Milburn Stone]

5 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

He was in a number of Woody Allen films, often as Allen's goyim.

On the one hand, was it ever specified that his character was non-Jewish? On the other hand, he played goyische so well that I was surprised to learn from an obit that he was Jewish!

3 hours ago, Fool to cry said:

Before I had ever seen a Woody Allen movie I first heard of Tony Roberts when Adam Sandler impersonated him in this 1992 SNL sketch

That Woody was so good I couldn't tell who it really was! (Thought maybe Moranis, than decided no.)

Hartman's Sinatra is gold.

[Fool to cry]

1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

On the one hand, was it ever specified that his character was non-Jewish? On the other hand, he played goyische so well that I was surprised to learn from an obit that he was Jewish!

That Woody was so good I couldn't tell who it really was! (Thought maybe Moranis, than decided no.)

Hartman's Sinatra is gold.

Dana Carvey played Woody, Jan Hooks played Mia Farrow, Rob Schneider played Soon-Yi and SNL writer Robert Smigel played Alan Dershowitz.

[EtheltoTillie]

That was brilliant. Carvey was uncanny. 

RIP Phil Hartman always. 

I once saw Tony Roberts in a revival of The Boy Friend, in the Sag Harbor playhouse, in 2003. Directed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the original.  

[EtheltoTillie]

Around that time I took an adult beginner tap class where the teacher used songs from The Boy Friend. I was really into that soundtrack, so I was so excited to see the show. 

Edited Tuesday at 07:53 AM by EtheltoTillie

[Rinaldo]

Tony (or Anthony, as he was billed until around 1970) had an extensive Broadway career, beginning as the guy who dated or was married to "the girl" in the typical light comedies of those years (with the true lead role being her put-upon father, as in Take Her She's Mine, Never Too Late, Don't Drink the Water). Often he was a replacement later in the run, taking over for Robert Redford in Barefoot in the Park, for Jerry Orbach in Promises Promises, for Robert Klein in They're Playing Our Song, and much later for Jason Alexander's narrator/multicharacter role in Jerome Robbins' Broadway. I think the only time I actually saw him onstage was in Sugar, the musical adaptation of Some Like It Hot in 1972. He and Robert Morse were supposedly equal-billed as the men who join the all-girl band, but Morse was shamelessly playing to the audience as Daphne, so Roberts inevitably faded into the background a bit by staying in character as Jo. 

He kept going on Broadway (and surely acted on other stages too) to 2009, in a full range from roles from farce to classic drama (Chekhov), musicals and boulevard comedies, specifically Jewish (Sisters Rosensweig, Cabaret) or not. Never quite a star (despite getting some leading roles), he leaves a considerable legacy.

[Charlie Baker]

Tony Roberts also played Toddy (the Robert Preston film role) in the stage version of Victor/Victoria on Broadway.  His father Ken Roberts was a voiceover announcer.