TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Milburn Stone]

If we're gonna talk about movie composers, what about Bernard Herrmman?  Amazing that the man who created the lushness of the 'Ghost and Mrs. Muir' also scored the menacing 'Taxi Driver.'

 

Somehow he had the ability to translate the subterranean drives, fears and passions of characters into music.

[Bastet]

I woke up about 10:00 this morning, lay there contemplating which flower bed I wanted to work on today, remembered it was Bill Powell's SUTS day, turned on TCM to see the block of films with Myrna Loy was underway, tried to tell myself I have them all on DVD and really need to get those beds planted ... but wound up making a Bloody Mary and settling in for Libeled Lady.

 

I can't quit those two.

[LuciaMia]

'Thin Man' double-feature tonight.

 

I think one of my favorite entrances is Myrna Loy skittering into the nightclub, arms full of 

Christmas packages and being dragged by Asta.

[Charlie Baker]

Libeled Lady is definitely my favorite non-Thin Man Myrna and Bill, if I may be so bold or crass as to call them that, but there is much pleasure to be found in Double Wedding, I Love You Again, and Love Crazy all lined up in a nice little row this afternoon. Like martinis.

 

Then the first two Thin Mans!

 

I never saw Crossroads and may have to check that one out tonight, even if Ms. Loy is not in it.

 

And the pre-Thin Man items they showed this morning...good TCM day, to understate it.

 

Somehow he had the ability to translate the subterranean drives, fears and passions of characters into music.

 

A perfect description of the incredible score of Vertigo.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Charlie Baker

[Bastet]

all lined up in a nice little row this afternoon. Like martinis.

 

"Say, how many drinks have you had?"

"This will make six martinis."

"Alright, will you bring me five more martinis, Leo?  Line them right up here."

 

And then, of course:

 

"What hit me?"

"The last martini."

 

I might have had a chance at productivity had I gone outside during Double Wedding, as it's my least favorite of their comedies, but that's kind of like saying milk chocholate is my least-favorite chocolate ... I may not eat/watch it as much as the rest, but I still like it ... so I missed my window -- I'll never tear myself away from the rest of the line-up.

 

Ben just made a mistake in introducing I Love You Again.  He explained the twist on the typical amnesia storyline -- that Powell's character getting clonked on the head at the beginning of the film causes him not to lose his memory, but to regain it.  True, but he went on to say Larry discovers he's spent the past 10 years living someone else's life, and that someone is a con man.  Wrong -- his real identity is as a con man, who - suffering from amnesia - has been living the life of his exact opposite, an uptight bore.

 

I love this film.  For Loy and Powell, obviously -- and, as a side note, she is even more beautiful than usual here -- but also for Powell and Frank McHugh, who are highly entertaining together.

 

"Boy, eighteen days alone on a boat is certainly a long time to be alone on a boat for eighteen days." 

Edited August 9, 2014 by Bastet

[Julia]

If we're gonna talk about movie composers, what about Bernard Herrmman?  Amazing that the man who created the lushness of the 'Ghost and Mrs. Muir' also scored the menacing 'Taxi Driver.'

 

I'm kind of amazed that Citizen Kane and Psycho (or The Birds) came from the same person. 

[LuciaMia]

 

 

"What hit me?"

"The last martini."

Later, at the Christmas party they're hosting; I absolutely adore the candy-striped dress she's wearing.

And speaking of William Powell, it's kinda surprising he played so many dapper roles, like suave jewel thieves or charming seducers. I guess what I mean is he was not classically handsome like a Cary Grant. 

[Charlie Baker]

William Powell's early career had him playing older characters and villains, AFAIK,  Once he got a chance to tackle leading roles, his polish and personality and talent trumped the fact that he wasn't traditional matinee idol material, and he succeeded.  IMO of course.  (Can't believe I used two acronyms in one post.)

[Rinaldo]

Were we talking about film composers? I could go on forever (including those unsung heroes of instrumental color, the orchestrators), but let me just mention Alec North. Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Unchained (whence comes "Unchained Melody," his music), The Rainmaker, Spartacus, Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Dragonslayer. Not to mention the unfairly discarded score for 2001.

[Milburn Stone]

I'm all for talking film composers here--highly relevant to thread. However, just as a point of information for those who didn't know it (a group that included me until yesterday), there is a whole thread on previously.tv about movie scores and soundtracks:

 

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3927-movie-music-scores-soundtracks-and-best-moments/

 

It's within Off Topic > Movies.

 

So, with a TCM thread, a Movie Musicals thread, a Movie Music thread, and a Theatre thread (which of course includes musicals that have been turned into movies), we have either a confusion of choices or a profusion of choices, depending on how you choose to look at it.

[aradia22]

Eh, all of these distinctions will be useful once the flood of new commenters comes in. ;)

 

Also, I checked the DVR as soon as I got home and I did record Night Nurse. As well as The Pirate. Hooray! Expect to hear my thoughts soon. Or in a month. You know me.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I did record Night Nurse. .... Hooray! Expect to hear my thoughts soon.

FINALLY.

 

I was watching a bit of Ball of Fire tonight and I think it's easily one of the most entertaining of her films. I love the abundance of character actors and I love Allen Jenkins' NY slang!

It's one of my favorites among her movies. The casting is perfect - Gary Cooper and as you said, all those amazing character actors.

I kind of hate SUTS but I'm recording a bunch of Carole Lombard's movies today - I didn't realize how many of them I hadn't seen. Wish I'd had room to record more of them.  (I'm working my way through a bunch of Lone Wolf movies that GetTV is running this month - love Warren William and had never seen any of the Gerald Mohr ones.  Of course Mohr is always Philip Marlowe to me.)  On the other hand I'm looking forward to Herbert Marshall day and Thelma Ritter day.

 

A friend of my mom's mentioned Elevator to the Gallows as a recommendation and I've been trying to catch it for ages. Missed it.

That's a great movie.  As for myself I am pissed that I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize Friday was Jeanne Moreau day - some things I hadn't seen and wish I'd recorded, like Bay of Angels and Fire Within.  Serves me right for hating on SUTS I guess.

Edited August 10, 2014 by ratgirlagogo

[Milburn Stone]

Also, I checked the DVR as soon as I got home and I did record Night Nurse. As well as The Pirate. Hooray! Expect to hear my thoughts soon. Or in a month. You know me.

 

While we await those thoughts, I'll chime in to say that The Pirate is a film that's really grown on me through the years. My first, second and maybe even third time I saw it, I just thought it was weird. (Not talking about the songs, but about the script.) At some point I finally "got" the fey, literate, fantastical, witty whimsy of the whole enterprise, and ever since then have loved it for the great film it is. (Although Yolanda and the Thief may not be up there with The Pirate, the two are a matched set, in my opinion, in terms of tonality and the particular nature of the wit. As Minnelli directed both, Yolanda might be seen as a warm-up for The Pirate. I think it's generally underrated.)

 

Judy proves herself a wonderful and very modern comedienne in The Pirate. Modern in the sense that many of her gestures seem to pre-sage a style of comedy that became more mainstream later than 1948.

 

Don't know if the film was an acquired taste for anyone else, or if most people just love it right off the bat, but once I acquired it, it's stayed acquired.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[Bastet]

Night Nurse is one of those films I have to watch whenever I come across it.  I love pre-Code Stanwyck.

[Charlie Baker]

One more thing re William Powell:  I did watch Crossroads last night live.  It's a tidy little suspenser, nothing special or earthshaking.  Most interesting thing about it is that there is an amnesia angle for Powell's character, not too far removed from I Love You Again.  Is he in fact a criminal who disappeared and reinvented himself as a diplomat?  He contends amnesia wiped out part of his past.  It's all played completely straight, it's got that MGM gloss about it, though it is mostly small scale, except for a very elaborate courtroom crammed with extras.  Playing opposite Powell is Hedy Lamarr, who was extremely beautiful and from biographical accounts, extremely intelligent, but never all that good an actress.  Here, she seems better than I've seen her in the few other things I've seen her in.  RO said after the movie that she and Powell were teamed again after working well together in this movie.  Basil Rathbone is the chief antagonist, and as usual, an effective one. RO says MGM wanted Marlene Dietrich for the second female lead, a chanteuse who claims to be Powell's former lover.  But she turned it down, not interested in sharing the screen with another femme fatale.

 

Missed Jeanne Moreau day too.  Merde!

 

I have mixed feelings about The Pirate but I certainly can't and won't dismiss any movie with Garland and Kelly. 

[Bastet]

I love him as "Willoughby, Ward Willoughby" in Love Crazy.  Of all the falls on that rug, his is the best.  And his first scene with Myrna Loy has me laughing the entire time, no matter how often I watch the film. 

[LuciaMia]

 

I love him as "Willoughby, Ward Willoughby" in Love Crazy

Ah, but he was so mean to James Mason in "A Star Is Born.'

[prican58]

love Warren William and had never seen any of the Gerald Mohr ones.  Of course Mohr is always Philip Marlowe to me.)  On the other hand I'm looking forward to Herbert Marshall day and Thelma Ritter day.

 

Oh my! WW has grown on me. When I first discovered him I kind of thought him to be kind of lifeless and stiff. But more and more he changed my mind. Love him in Gold Diggers of 1933 and Lady For A Day with May Robson. He was a SOTM a couple years ago and that's where I grew to love him.

 

Herbert Marshall is another guy with a Voice like Mason, Karloff and Colman. He may come off a bit stiff sometimes but he was a very good actor. 

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Herbert Marshall is another guy with a Voice like Mason, Karloff and Colman. He may come off a bit stiff sometimes but he was a very good actor.

He seemed like a stiff to me as well until I saw Trouble in Paradise, which they're showing on his day.  That was a revelation.  Also, although I've seen both versions before, they will also be showing the 1929 Jeanne Eagels version of The Letter in which he plays the lover, and the 1940 Bette Davis version in which he plays the husband. 

Edited August 11, 2014 by ratgirlagogo

[BuddhaBelly]

William Powell day was a joy for me. I knew I wasn't going to be home so I recorded everything. I had to delete some good stuff just to make room.

Edited August 12, 2014 by BuddhaBelly

[jah1986]

William Powell day was a joy for me. I knew I was going to be home so I recorded everything. I had to delete some good stuff just to make room.

I agree it was a real treat. I had no idea he and Myrna Loy made 14 movies together, what a pair.  Does anyone know where I can get the Thin Man series on DVD?

[Bastet]

Yeah, there's a boxed set that includes all six Thin Man films plus biographical specials on Powell and Loy.  It was originally packaged with each DVD in its own case, and then they put out a cheaper version where there is just one case with different sleeves for each DVD.

 

The only one of the 14 films not out on DVD is The Senator Was Indiscreet (which wasn't a Powell/Loy collaboration, but a Powell film with a Loy cameo).

 

There is a Powell/Loy boxed set containing Manhattan Melodrama, Evelyn Prentice, Double Wedding, I Love You Again and Love Crazy.

 

I'm not sure if Libeled Lady is available individually, but it is available as part of a Jean Harlow boxed set (which also contains Wife vs. Secretary, one of my favorite Loy/Gable films).

 

The Great Ziegfeld is available individually.

[jah1986]

Thanks for the info, I'll look into that right away.

[psychoticstate]

William Powell day was a joy for me. I knew I was going to be home so I recorded everything. I had to delete some good stuff just to make room.

 

 

Later, at the Christmas party they're hosting; I absolutely adore the candy-striped dress she's wearing.

And speaking of William Powell, it's kinda surprising he played so many dapper roles, like suave jewel thieves or charming seducers. I guess what I mean is he was not classically handsome like a Cary Grant. 

 

I love, love, love William Powell.  There is something about him that I find so charming, endearing and yes, sexy too.  No, he wasn't classically handsome but he was suave and debonair and had some really great one liners in his films.  He just came alive on the screen.   I'll never forget a statement that Myrna Loy made about him - - He was a brilliant actor, a delightful companion, a great friend and, above all, a true gentleman.  

[Bastet]

For me, it's that character as a gentleman - as Loy went on to say, those "often attributed but seldom possessed" qualities of great style, class and breeding - and his self-deprecating charm that make Powell so delightful to watch.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Bastet

[Athena]

I really liked William Powell in My Man Godfrey. There was something so lovely and gentlemanly about him in a movie with an annoying plot and female lead, but some nice art deco. I'd watch it again just for him. 

[Rinaldo]

Warren William is also interesting with Bette Davis in Satan Met a Lady -- or maybe it's that the movie itself is such an oddball item, an unofficial version of The Maltese Falcon, sort of played for comedy but not really, and not successfully finding its tone but undeniably oddball. The early-talkie Maltese Falcon is also worth seeing, as being pre-code it can be more explicit than the later deservedly classic version with Bogart. All three movies are in the DVD box for the latter version.

they will also be showing the 1929 Jeanne Eagels version of The Letter in which he plays the lover, and the 1940 Bette Davis version in which he plays the husband. 

Ooh! I've told my DVR to save me both. Fascinating comparisons ahead, and I've never seen the Eagels, famous though it is. Also excellent is the 1982 made-for-TV version with Lee Remick. Like so many of the "serious" movies-of-the-week that the networks used to make, it seems to have vanished forever; no cable channel specializes in such fare.

[Julia]

I think Warren William was so stuck in peoples' minds as a wicked character in pre-code movies that his career dwindled afterwards. It's a shame. He was also a lot of fun as Caesar in the Claudette Colbert Cleoopatra.

[BuddhaBelly]

I'm looking forward to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I own the DVD and have it saved on the DVR from the last time it played on TCM but I will be watching it again. I don't know what it is about the movie that just grabs me each and every time, probably everything.  

[psychoticstate]

I think Warren William was so stuck in peoples' minds as a wicked character in pre-code movies that his career dwindled afterwards. It's a shame. He was also a lot of fun as Caesar in the Claudette Colbert Cleoopatra.

 

I agree.  He was so fantastic in his pre-Codes.  A shame that he lost popularity going into the late 30s and early 40s.

 

I find it fascinating that he had an entrepreneurial mind.  He invented an early version of an RV when he wanted to be able to sleep on his drive in to the studio.

[Rinaldo]

I'm looking forward to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I own the DVD and have it saved on the DVR from the last time it played on TCM but I will be watching it again. I don't know what it is about the movie that just grabs me each and every time, probably everything.  

This movie was a very pleasant surprise to me when I belatedly saw it -- I had too trustingly accepted standard talk that it was wrecked by the need to tame it down for the movie code, and by star casting. But in fact Paul Newman catches the right notes as Brick, and Elizabeth Taylor catches something important about Maggie that many good actresses have missed onstage in my experience (God knows Kathleen Turner did): that this is not a typical day in Maggie's life -- she's not a sexpot or a harridan, she's a "nice girl" who married the football hero and then found herself with a life and troubles that she didn't expect.

[aradia22]

I think I saw it during the time when I was posting on TWoP (Oy, when I think of all the movies I haven't been keeping track of that I watched before then). Not having read the play, I was still able to sense that something was off about the way the story was presented in the movie but I found Newman and Taylor compelling as actors and yes, very attractive. For me, it's not a great movie but it's nothing to shy away from either.

[mariah23]

I hate to the be the bearer of bad news.  I thought it was a Twitter hoax, but the Bogart estate on Twitter has confirmed Lauren Bacall died this morning of a massive stroke.  She was 89.  http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lauren-bacall-star-of-hollywoods-golden-age-dies-at-89-1201281523/

[Bastet]

Oh, man.  She sort of felt like the last of the living legends. 

Edited August 13, 2014 by Bastet

[aradia22]

Oh, wow. And she was still working. She did the American dub for Ernest and Celestine not too long ago. I still haven't gotten around to all those Bogie and Bacall movies so I'm hoping TCM arranges a tribute day for her soon.

[mariah23]

Well, TCM already has her 90th birthday tribute scheduled, I am guessing instead it will be the In Memoriam instead.

[prican58]

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lauren-bacall-star-of-hollywoods-golden-age-dies-at-89-1201281523/

 

I am supremely sad.

 

Not to be cynical but it looks just like the day Farrah Fawcett died. It was the big news of the day especially re her long battle with cancer.. But then Michael Jackson died and everyone forgot about FF.

Bacall passed this morning but all anyone can talk about is Robin (he should be talked about but I guess to the "important" demographics, he rates more.) It's all good, though. As long as she gets her props from us and TCM, it's good enough for me.   

Edited August 13, 2014 by prican58

[aradia22]

I think they'll both be remembered. They both had long and varied careers and thus a legion of fans. Robin's fans are probably younger because the highpoint of his movie career was much later and he also made a lot of family movies that are still popular. Besides, Bacall isn't an actress who'll be easily forgotten. Not to shade Farrah Fawcett but I'm not familiar with any of her credits outside of Charlie's Angels. I hope they do a better job with the In Memoriam at the Oscars with two really big names passing this year. They probably won't because, you know, they're the Oscars and they want to punish me for watching the entire telecast.

[Bastet]

Well, we can assume TCM will knock it out of the park like usual with its annual In Memoriam segment.

[BuddhaBelly]

I hope Baby and Bogie are dancing together.

Edited August 13, 2014 by BuddhaBelly

[Bastet]

Coincidences can be poignant sometimes:  About 30 seconds after a friend and I raised a glass to Ms. Bacall tonight, the shuffle mix on my iPod started up Bertie Higgins' Key Largo.  You know -- "... We had it all, just like Bogey and Bacall ..."  -- that schmaltzy guilty pleasure from the early '80s. 

Edited August 13, 2014 by Bastet

[prican58]

aradia, Farrah wasn't so much a movie actress but she was a TV Icon of the highest order if for nothing else but that poster. But she turned out to be quite a good actress and gave some moving performances in certain tv movies/mini series. I saw her Off Broadway years ago as a rape victim who captures her attacker. Accolades for her at the time. By all accounts she was a very nice, very well liked person. Yes MJ was the bigger  star of course but it's too bad her "timing" was off. Vanity Fair did 2 different covers that time. One of MJ the other FF. I have FF's.

 

You are right in re to RW popularity and his getting such publicity. He does deserve. In fairness, Bacall died that morning but it wasn't announced til last evening.

[LuciaMia]

It's been a pretty sad week.

*********

 

Cary Grant day.  I've never been able to sit thru 'Bringing Up Baby.'   A bit TOO much screw-ball for me. Was this the movie that earned Hepburn the infamous 'box-office poison' label?

 

 

Ah, but 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse.' at 9:30.

 

"Muriel Blandings: The house and the lilac bush at the corner are just the same age, Bill. If a lilac bush can live and be so old, so can a house. It just needs someone to love it, that's all.

Bill Cole: It's a good thing there are two of you. One to love it and one to hold it up."

[Charlie Baker]

Ah, but 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse.' at 9:30.

 

 

And of course, Bastet's and my favorite lady plays Muriel.  Ask her about paint colors. 

[Bastet]

Bringing Up Baby is one of my favorite movies.  Hawks felt, in retrospect, that its one flaw was the lack of a "normal" character; everyone in it is wacky.  He'd go back and make someone like the gardener more of a stand-in for the audience, a relatable observer of all the craziness around him.  I take his point, but I enjoy it immensely as it is.

 

And I adore Grant with Katharine Hepburn.  I love them both individually - in fact, she comes in second to Myrna Loy as my all-time favorite - but together they are even better.  Especially in Holiday.

 

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is another DVD that gets some real wear and tear in my house.  And, yes, that paint color scene is one of the many reasons why.

 

Here is the TCM Remembers for Lauren Bacall.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Bastet

[RubyWoo72]

The Philadelphia Story is on right now and Ms. Hepburn's white dress with sequin detail is EVERYTHING.

[Cobb Salad]

I think Jack Carson has been in every movie i've watched in the last couple days.

He was in Gentleman Jim (shown last night) and now I see him in the credits for Arsenic and Old Lace which just started. He appears to be the Michael Caine of his day.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Cobb Salad

[aradia22]

 

The Philadelphia Story is on right now and Ms. Hepburn's white dress with sequin detail is EVERYTHING.

That might have been the dress I saw at the exhibit. I'll have to watch the movie again (I've only seen parts up to this point... thanks, new DVR!) to confirm. Regardless, I saw one of her costumes and she had a teeny tiny waist! Also, even though it isn't a great movie, I love Katharine Hepburn in Holiday.

[RubyWoo72]

That might have been the dress I saw at the exhibit. I'll have to watch the movie again (I've only seen parts up to this point... thanks, new DVR!) to confirm. Regardless, I saw one of her costumes and she had a teeny tiny waist! Also, even though it isn't a great movie, I love Katharine Hepburn in Holiday.

If it was a collared, long-sleeved, V-neck floor-length number with sequins along the collar, neckline, and shoulders, that's the one. And yes her waistline is tiny! I love the clothes and hair from that era.

She does, however, seem to be a pioneer in vocal fry. Lol I never paid much attention before.

[Julia]

The Philadelphia Story is on right now and Ms. Hepburn's white dress with sequin detail is EVERYTHING.

 

Well, not absolutely everything. The white drapey robe she put on over her bathing suit was something.