TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Inquisitionist]

I just watched Johnny Belinda, which I had recorded a few weeks ago.  I remember seeing the made-for-TV version with Mia Farrow when I was about 12, but had never seen the original until now.  The characters are almost too good to be believed, but if you do, the movie holds up as well-crafted and moving.  I loved the B&W cinematography's use of shadows.  

[Milburn Stone]

We streamed Boogie Nights last night, mainly to see Burt Reynolds' performance again. (Hadn't seen the film since seeing it in a theater when it came out.) It really holds up (if anything, I liked it more than I did back then, and I liked it then) and his performance is superb. You'd never guess that at any moment during the filming he felt the least bit disaffected; he gives it everything. Raising the mystery in my mind as to what the source of his disaffection was. Did PTA rub him the wrong way on location? Did he not know what kind of film it was until he saw the cut? (That seems impossible.) Did (for whatever reason) he look at his finished performance and see something different than what the entire rest of the world saw?

[Rinaldo]

The upcoming week's schedule on TCM has a couple of points of interest (to me, at any rate):

Early Tuesday morning we get two film versions of the same bank-robbers-on-the-run Edward Anderson novel Thieves Like Us: Robert Altman's 1974 movie using the original title with Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall (and John Schuck, Bert Remsen, and Louise Fletcher), and then Nicholas Ray's 1949 version titled They Live by Night with Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell (with Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, and Helen Craig). I've seen the former, decades ago, but never the latter.

For those curious about the Ritz Brothers and what may have made Pauline Kael adore them so (and she really did), we can get our fill (and possibly more) on [CORRECTED:} Sunday evening Sept. 16, with Kentucky Moonshine, Life Begins in College, and Straight Place and Show. I've never seen the Ritz Brothers at all, but I do know that the last of those three movies contains the scene (originally for Richard Arlen and Ethel Merman) that was later inserted into The Big Sleep for Bogart and Bacall, where it suddenly seemed loaded with double entendre -- I dare say I'm not the only one who has wondered why they suddenly started talking about horse racing in that suggestive way.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Rinaldo

[Schnickelfritz]

3 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

For those curious about the Ritz Brothers and what may have made Pauline Kael adore them so (and she really did), we can get our fill (and possibly more) on Saturday evening, with Kentucky Moonshine, Life Begins in College, and Straight Place and Show

I think you mean Sunday evening. (9/16)

[ratgirlagogo]

7 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Did PTA rub him the wrong way on location?

My impression is that PTA rubbed him the wrong way when they were doing media promotion for the film.  Apparently he felt PTA was not letting him talk in press conferences and on the talk shows.   Probably there is a tale to tell there, since Boogie Nights was Burt's only Oscar nomination, and Oscar campaigns generally require media campaigning.

15 hours ago, voiceover said:

That penultimate moment in The Man Who Would Be King -- Danny's begging forgiveness of Peachy, and Peachy shrugging his fate off with a grin -- put me in mind of other times, other films.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  We are all lucky that John Huston wasn't able to make The Man Who Would Be King with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart - and ended up having to wait until the 70's and make it with Sean Connery and Michael Caine.  It's a masterpiece.

Edited September 9, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[Bastet]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:06 AM, Milburn Stone said:

We streamed Boogie Nights last night, mainly to see Burt Reynolds' performance again. (Hadn't seen the film since seeing it in a theater when it came out.) It really holds up (if anything, I liked it more than I did back then, and I liked it then) and his performance is superb. You'd never guess that at any moment during the filming he felt the least bit disaffected; he gives it everything. Raising the mystery in my mind as to what the source of his disaffection was. Did PTA rub him the wrong way on location? Did he not know what kind of film it was until he saw the cut? (That seems impossible.) Did (for whatever reason) he look at his finished performance and see something different than what the entire rest of the world saw?

Reynolds said he never watched the film in its entirety.  As for Anderson, Reynolds thought he was an arrogant young punk who wasn't giving him due respect.  He was also reportedly uncomfortable with the subject matter and explicit nature of the film.

There's a lot of information in this oral history of making the film, none from Reynolds, but a fair bit about him.

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

There's a lot of information in this oral history of making the film, none from Reynolds, but a fair bit about him.

Thanks.

[mariah23]

TCM has scheduled a tribute to Burt Reynolds, but it won't air until December 26th.

[Rinaldo]

This month's guest programmer is Keith Carradine. I was happy to encounter his intro to Rancid Random Harvest last night, as I've come to like him enormously. He's had a really interesting career arc, and I've been lucky enough to see him onstage in musicals several times. (Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon was, interestingly, a long-sought dream role for him, and its stunning production has now produced a fine cast recording.)

[Charlie Baker]

 A three movie tribute to Neil Simon Friday night, kind of neatly spanning his career:  The Odd Couple, The Goodbye Girl, and Lost in Yonkers, a good film adaptation of one of his finest plays. 

[enoughcats]

Show business royalty  were at a commemoration service for Sir Peter Hall. Any British movie you've enjoyed probably has at least two of the people at this service, and probably more.  Lots of photos of major actors and actresses as they age gracefully.  

[Crisopera]

inquisitionist - I too watched Johnny Belinda, and thought it was very interesting as an example of the rare unglamorous Hollywood movie.  These were genuinely poor people who had to make-do-and-mend, and nobody's clothes looked new.  Not perhaps a great movie, but Jane Wyman deserved her ascent to big time stardom after years of bit parts and Ronald Reagan.  (I've always liked her.)

[Charlie Baker]

Late Sunday night has quite a lineup with The Conquering Power, a silent with a Mr. Valentino, about which I know little, then two Jean Renoirs for the imports: The Rules of the Game and The Golden Coach.

[Charlie Baker]

Happened to catch some of Odd Couple last night--the delightful Pigeon sisters scene, which had a little extra dash of poignancy, given the recent passing of Carole Shelley (Gwendolyn), who had a long career, including stints on the New York stage,

Carole Shelley

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

Carole Shelley (Gwendolyn), who had a long career, including stints on the New York stage,

She did indeed. She's one of those British actors (there are many of them by now) who after a Broadway success (in her case, of course, it was The Odd Couple, which she repeated on film and TV) decide to relocate to the US and work there. Her 18 Broadway credits (including The Elephant Man [for which she won a Tony Award], Wicked, Billy Elliot, and A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder) are of course just the beginning of her commitment to the stage here.

[voiceover]

oops Delete pls

Edited September 16, 2018 by voiceover

[Rinaldo]

Some interesting stuff coming up on the TCM schedule:

Tomorrow (Monday) primetime, two instances of what they're calling "Gender-Flipping Remakes." (Sorry, the teacher in me had to add the hyphen that they didn't.) The early film of The Front Page followed by the immortal His Girl Friday, in which Hildy Johnson becomes a woman (Rosalind Russell); and the equally immortal Strangers on a Train followed by the rather obscure 1970 Once You Kiss a Stranger, in which Carol Lynley is the nutso one who proposes victim-swapping to someone (Paul Burke) who doesn't take the proposal seriously and amiably agrees. This seems to be a TCM premiere (no viewer reactions on the website); I can't find any mention of it offiicially crediting the earlier film, but it's clearly the same premise with the instigator gender-switched (and different details, including blackmail for a sexual indiscretion). I wonder if there are any more pairs of movies one could put in this category.

Featured star this month is Rita Hayworth, with several titles each Tuesday. But this week has three I'm especially fond of: Gilda, The Lady from Shanghai, and Cover Girl. (And then in the wee hours, a favorite of hers that I haven't seen, The Loves of Carmen.)

Thursdays this month are about "funny ladies," going more or less chronologically. The titles chosen are mostly either familiar or uninteresting to me (YMMV of course), but Illeana Douglas's co-host for these is Carol Burnett, and I'll probably DVR most of them just to hear what Carol has to say.

Monday the 22nd is another Disney evening hosted by Leonard Maltin. On the schedule I see three good early shorts and a good feature to kick it off, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (which, believe it or not I've never seen in its entirety, so I'm recording it for sure), but otherwise all post-Walt stuff, not even much identified with the Disney brand. Maybe Maltin really loves these and can make a case for them, but I don't feel like we've reached the point of scraping the barrel yet: there's at least one of the early British live-action adventures still unshown, the anthology films of the 1940s that are rarities now, some of the better True-Life Adventures, and so on, any of which ought to have more magic than, say, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

Monday the 22nd is another Disney evening hosted by Leonard Maltin. On the schedule I see three good early shorts and a good feature to kick it off, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (which, believe it or not I've never seen in its entirety, so I'm recording it for sure)...

I have never seen any of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but it has a song I love, "The Age of Not Believing," performed wonderfully by Angela Lansbury.

 

I am not a fan of the Sherman Brothers (sacrilege, I know), but this one song, which makes me verklempt every time, makes up for every dumb thing they ever wrote. (OK, I don't hate their songs for Mary Poppins, but I don't put them in the top rank among all songs, either. This song, I could make a case for. I'll be interested to see how it fits into the story.)

I share your regard for the anthology (live action/cartoon) Disney films of the forties. I think I have them all on DVD.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

For me, the Sherman brothers hit their peak in their (non-Disney) score for The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella, which I have gone about before. I know it's overextended, I know that a couple of the songs have that overly cute family-fare "let's think up another Supercalifragilisticexpialidcious!" tinge... but I don't care, I love it all, their songs included.

I'll certainly be keeping an ear out for "The Age of Not Believing."

[Charlie Baker]

I'll put in a word for the other Rita Hayworth movie on Tuesday, Tonight and Every Night. It has the same fact-based premise as the Judi Dench vehicle Mrs. Henderson Presents--a British vaudeville house staying open through WWII to keep up morale of soldiers and  civilians.  The story is slight, and falters when it tries to get serious, but the numbers are good.  Legendary choreographer Jack Cole is in the chorus and partners RH for one number.  Shelley Winters is supposedly in the chorus, but I can't recall if I could spot her the last time I saw this.  Also noteworthy is the presence of the brilliant dancer Marc Platt, who passed away just a few years ago at 100.  He's probably best remembered as a brother in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but here he's featured more prominently.  He auditions for the theater by dancing to a number of different musical styles and a speech of Hitler's!  Trust me, it's great. 

Edited October 7, 2018 by Charlie Baker

[Crisopera]

Marc Platt is amazing in Tonight and Every Night.  That audition number is stunning.  And he pulls off a not-terrible Northern English accent as well. 

I was watching a Noir Alley feature, the B-movie Desperate, which I recommend the next time it shows up on TCM.  It's one of those tight little thrillers, directed by Anthony Mann before he went over to westerns and 

Spoiler

it has a happy ending!

The villain is a baby-faced Raymond Burr, who is as reliably terrifying as only he could be.

And one last recommendation: College Swing (1938), a Paramount vehicle for George Burns and Gracie Allen, the rest of the cast is full of rising stars (Betty Grable, John Payne, Bob Hope, Martha Raye, and in a tiny bit, Robert Cummings).  The plot is nonsensical, 

Spoiler

oddly, George and Gracie don't end up together - she ends up with Edward Everett Horton!)

, but the numbers are fun (all the lyrics are by Frank Loesser, with composers Burton Lane, Hoagy Carmichael, and Manning Sherwin).  It gives Martha Raye a terrific comic song, "What a Rumba Does to Romance," which she sings and then dances with Ben Blue - a very funny slapstick number.  And there's an oddity - a trio of guys called the Slate Brothers, who are obviously a ripoff of the Ritz Brothers, not that anyone was asking for another slapstick trio.  It's worth a look for the George and Gracie routines and the fun numbers.

[Rinaldo]

I like the description of College Swing. @Crisopera, has it just played, or is it coming up? -- I couldn't easily locate it on the schedule.

[Crisopera]

Rinaldo - it played a few days ago.  I recorded it randomly, because I'm very fond of George and Gracie and swing music.  I wasn't expecting anything much.  It was a pleasant surprise.  It looks as if you can find it on YouTube.

[voiceover]

For those who've yet to view it, here's my annual beg:

Watch Nosferatu.  

Before vampires were sex gods who glowered and sparkled, F.W. Murnau and Max Schreck made a film where the Monster was as horrifying on the outside as he was on the inside.  The moment on the ship when Nosferatu rises from belowdecks...Damn.  Even the gif creeps me out.

And yes: there's sexual tension here.  Even with this guy.  It squicks me to write that, but if you've seen the bedroom sequence, you know I'm right. 

And, much like Universal's The Mummy, it's the heroine who, in the end, is willing to fight the monster alone & on her own terms.

[ratgirlagogo]

My favorite Sherman Brother songs are "Let's Get Together" from The Parent Trap, and the theme song to The Monkey's Uncle.  

As usual I'll show myself out.

[StrictTime]

Gilda was on again last night. I will never not watch that film when it’s on schedule—in fact, will probably watch on the TCM app every day until 10/17, when it gets taken off. The dialog just crackles, and the fever-dream visuals and plotting, not to mention the costume and set design hit that film noir sweet spot for me.  I would love for some risk-taking (lololol) production company to do a prequel so we could see the first love affair between Johnny and Gilda.

[Milburn Stone]

Watched (for the first time in a while) You'll Never Get Rich. That movie is funny!! How many other movie musicals actually are? The batting average is not stellar. Of course Benchley is one reason but not the only one. The dialogue crackles with wit, and the direction is perfect. And Frieda Inescort as Benchley's wife is a hoot. Just for starters. 

So often we have to settle for movie musicals that merely contain transcendent musical numbers. :) How much nicer when you can say, "I'd watch this movie even if it were a straight comedy."

[Ursula Parrott]

Who’s going on the TCM cruise next year?

[Rinaldo]

After tonight's Disney (see my note above), early Tuesday we get a series of "painter" movies (Lust for Life, The Picture of Dorian Gray, An American in Paris, The Agony and the Ecstasy) but the one I'm recording to watch for sure is Rembrandt. It's an early (1936) outing for Charles Laughton, it pairs him with his wife Elsa Lanchester, on hand are an assortment of British rep actors famed for their stage work who didn't get to make much of a career in movies (Roger Livesey, Marius Goring, Abraham Sofaer)... but the most interesting aspect to me is Gertrude Lawrence, in one of her rare film appearances. Maybe this one will give a clue why stage audiences in both the UK and the US found her magnetic and unforgettable.

Edited October 16, 2018 by Rinaldo

[Crisopera]

Thanks for pointing out Rembrandt, Rinaldo.  I haven't seen it for many years, but I don't remember Gertrude Lawrence being especially memorable (Elsa Lanchester is much better, if I remember correctly).  Lawrence really didn't come across on film (even Julie Andrews couldn't make her interesting on film!).

 

As for the TCM Cruise, Ursula Parrott, I'm going to the festival for the first time next year, and thought about doing the cruise as well, but I couldn't afford both in one year.

[Rinaldo]

Just a quick note after finally seeing all of Bedknobs and Broomsticks (see above): Sadly, it was rather a letdown. The song mentioned by @Milburn Stone above is indeed lovely, as is Angela Lansbury's whole performance, and there are other very enjoyable bits like the animated underwater sequence (less so the aboveground animation). But the whole thing doesn't hang together; unlike Mary Poppins (a comparison Mr. Maltin said we ought not make, but I do it to point out the difference from a simple fable-like children's movie that actually works), we're never sure what's at stake or how it can be solved -- the rules of the game, so to speak. Plot threads are introduced and left hanging (the vicar played by Roddy McDowall) or emerge without having been set up (the children's book that solves everything, on two occasions). I know that the last-minute abridgment for time that was made for the US premiere may be at fault here, but we can only judge by what we see. Even the big Portobello Road production number makes a poor showing (compare it to Oliver!'s "Consider Yourself," its obvious model), because it doesn't actually build: there's just a film dissolve to a new set of characters, and we never know how we got from one situation to another, or where it's going. Even the final defeat of the enemy, in which the animated empty armor is indeed magical and impressive, again fails to satisfy because we haven't been told the rules of the magic: how did Lansbury transition from barely being able to make a pair of shoes move to mastering an entire squadron, and why must she be riding her broom for the spell to continue its effect? 

So I guess once will be enough for me. Sorry to be a spoilsport.

[Milburn Stone]

7 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Just a quick note after finally seeing all of Bedknobs and Broomsticks (see above): Sadly, it was rather a letdown. The song mentioned by @Milburn Stone above is indeed lovely, as is Angela Lansbury's whole performance, and there are other very enjoyable bits like the animated underwater sequence (less so the aboveground animation). But the whole thing doesn't hang together...

Darn.

On the bright side, I forgot to DVR it--and now I haven't missed anything! :)

[Charlie Baker]

Thanks to @Rinaldo 's alert, I caught Rembrandt.  Lavishly produced, nicely photographed, with a short running time, it offers glimpses of different stages of the artist's adult life. Must agree with @Crisopera. I thought Gertrude Lawrence did pretty well as the housekeeper who becomes Rembrandt's mistress--I've only seen her otherwise in the pretty forgettable first film of The Glass Menagerie.  (But maybe she was only magical on stage.) Elsa Lanchester was even better as another housemaid the artist takes as partner.  The movie above all is a grand showcase for Charles Laughton, who is given long speeches, including some scripture excerpts, which he delivers with great restraint and feeling. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Charlie Baker

[Rinaldo]

Further explorations in the less-heralded side of the British film industry: I watched Time Without Pity, a 1957 "Harlequin Productions" release, an early credit for both director Joseph Losey and cinematographer Freddie Francis (though I didn't know of their involvement before the titles rolled). I recorded it simply because Michael Redgrave had the main role, and I've found that he's invariably worth watching (I mean, I knew he was a great stage actor and the father of great actors, but I've only belatedly realized how many movies he made over the years, and how well he came across on film). He is indeed terrific, as usual, as an alcoholic but devoted father who returns to London after a hospital stay in Canada drying out, to discover that his adult son (Alec McCowen) is about to be executed for murdering his girlfriend -- with newspapers kept from him during his treatment, he hadn't known anything about it. So he has just a day to appeal to the authorities and find fresh evidence. He encounters Leo McKern, Ann Todd, Peter Cushing, and Paul Daneman (whom I knew only as an impressive Richard III on TV). Even more interestingly, he runs into a young Joan Plowright as a sharp-tongued chorus girl, and Lois Maxwell (before she was Miss Moneypenny) as a sexy minx. I can't say it's an overlooked masterpiece of suspense, but its 85 minutes move swiftly and effectively, and Redgrave is, as usual, extraordinary.

[EtheltoTillie]

The Wanderers!  I had been wanting to watch this again. 

[Milburn Stone]

8 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Further explorations in the less-heralded side of the British film industry: I watched Time Without Pity...I recorded it simply because Michael Redgrave had the main role, and I've found that he's invariably worth watching...

Thanks, @Rinaldo. TCM Watch has only fairly recently become available as an Apple TV portal, so I've been exploring it, and I noticed this title and was intrigued because it sounded so much like Town Without Pity. (In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that movie's title was "inspired" by Time Without Pity.) Will check it out.

[EtheltoTillie]

10 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Further explorations in the less-heralded side of the British film industry: I watched Time Without Pity, a 1957 "Harlequin Productions" release, an early credit for both director Joseph Losey and cinematographer Freddie Francis (though I didn't know of their involvement before the titles rolled). I recorded it simply because Michael Redgrave had the main role, and I've found that he's invariably worth watching (I mean, I knew he was a great stage actor and the father of great actors, but I've only belatedly realized how many movies he made over the years, and how well he came across on film). He is indeed terrific, as usual, as an alcoholic but devoted father who returns to London after a hospital stay in Canada drying out, to discover that his adult son (Alec McCowen) is about to be executed for murdering his girlfriend -- with newspapers kept from him during his treatment, he hadn't known anything about it. So he has just a day to appeal to the authorities and find fresh evidence. He encounters Leo McKern, Ann Todd, Peter Cushing, and Paul Daneman (whom I knew only as an impressive Richard III on TV). Even more interestingly, he runs into a young Joan Plowright as a sharp-tongued chorus girl, and Lois Maxwell (before she was Miss Moneypenny) as a sexy minx. I can't say it's an overlooked masterpiece of suspense, but its 85 minutes move swiftly and effectively, and Redgrave is, as usual, extraordinary.

Wow this sounds interesting. I will seek it out. It's also available on demand with TCM. 

Edited October 21, 2018 by GussieK

[Rinaldo]

8 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

(In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that movie's title was "inspired" by Time Without Pity.)

Possibly so, although "town without pity" (which I thought of, too) seems the more obvious and idiomatic phrase. I can imagine thinking it up without reference to anything else.

This Tuesday's batch of Rita Hayworth includes her last movie, The Wrath of God. For the sake of her memory, I kind of wish they'd bypassed it, though I admit I'll DVR it so I can see at least a few minutes. Frank Langella devotes two chapters to it in his names-named memoirs, as it was one of his first films and he agreed to be in a low-budget Western shot in Mexico because of the chance to work with two of his idols, Robert Mitchum and Rita Hayworth. The chapter about "Mitch" is more or less as expected (veteran macho star who still has incredible presence and is generous toward everyone on location, but isn't going to exert himself on anything a stuntman or double can do undetectably), but the section about Hayworth is one of the saddest in the book. More or less finished in Hollywood at that date, desperately lonely, by intention a total pro during shooting but in fact unable to remember even a short line in the time it takes to call Action, at a time when Alzheimer's was still barely recognized as such by most... he writes about it with great sympathy but it's still not pleasant reading, nor I imagine will it be pleasant viewing. She was only 54.

Edited October 21, 2018 by Rinaldo

[ratgirlagogo]

3 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

This Tuesday's batch of Rita Hayworth includes her last movie, The Wrath of God.

This is on my DVR list too for the same reasons of curiosity.  When I was looking over my list for this week at first I couldn't imagine why I had set Aguirre The Wrath of God to record, then I remembered.  Agree this doesn't sound like a fun film, but I'm still eager to see it.

I've recently started watching the Noir Alley films every week, and I'm wishing I had started to do it before.  I like noir without being a noir freak, and I wouldn't have bothered to watch a number of these if I hadn't watched Eddie Mueller's presentations on them.    He's so good I wish TCM would use him more.  Best of all he's choosing lesser known films -  case in point the 1947 film The Gangster - I'd never heard of it and wouldn't have looked for it.  But it was fascinating!   Very,very stylized both in the camerawork  - Coney Island shot entirely on a Hollywood soundstage  (with cardboard sets!) and in the dialogue, by the eventually well-known literary novelist Daniel Fuchs.   It reminded me of something like Johnny Guitar - like you're watching a European art film of the period, only with a Hollywood cast. The weak link in the production was the leading lady Belita, who was really beautiful, but wow she could not act at all.  

Edited October 21, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[OoogleEyes]

Hello there! Glad to see another Noir Alley fan. Eddie Mueller is a walking encyclopedia of Noir.  If you're a Twitter person,  follow #TCMParty. 

[ratgirlagogo]

3 hours ago, OoogleEyes said:

If you're a Twitter person,  follow #TCMParty.

Not a Twitter or a Facebook person but yes he is great.  I have his book Dark City, I know he's written many others.

[mariah23]

Extremely sad news: FilmStruck will cease operations on November 29.

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, mariah23 said:

Extremely sad news: FilmStruck will cease operations on November 29.

Their user-interface (at least as experienced on Apple TV) was awful. A different way of scrolling through a video than LITERALLY EVERY OTHER STREAMING PORTAL IN THE UNIVERSE. And a far less useful one--often out-and-out dysfunctional. Unfortunately, the same is true of TCM Watch. Just cannot figure out why both channels opted for that, when even far less well capitalized ventures have gone with the flow.

[Milburn Stone]

This is ever so slightly off-topic...but there's no better place on earth to ask this. Has anyone here done the Warner Bros. Studio Tour? They offer one called the Classics tour, which obviously would be more up our alley than the standard one. However, it's very long--3.5 hours! (Also $10 more, but that's not a factor.) The regular (non-Classics) tour is about 45 minutes shorter. Anyway, does the Classics tour give you far more of the kind of experience folks here would want, in which case the 3.5 hours will be well worth it?

The website, which should give enough detail to allow one to make an informed decision, doesn't.

I used to shoot commercials in LA all the time, over a period of thirty years, and all that time I thought of a studio tour as a "busman's holiday." I was shooting on sound stages and back lots--including those at the former Selznick and Desilu studios and at Paramount! Why would I need a tour? They're for tourists! Feh! But now that I am a tourist, I don't feel nearly as negative about it. :)

[ratgirlagogo]

On 10/26/2018 at 1:41 PM, Milburn Stone said:

On 10/26/2018 at 11:21 AM, mariah23 said:

Extremely sad news: FilmStruck will cease operations on November 29.

Their user-interface (at least as experienced on Apple TV) was awful. A different way of scrolling through a video than LITERALLY EVERY OTHER STREAMING PORTAL IN THE UNIVERSE. And a far less useful one--often out-and-out dysfunctional. Unfortunately, the same is true of TCM Watch. Just cannot figure out why both channels opted for that, when even far less well capitalized ventures have gone with the flow.

Wow. That didn't last long.  Does anyone know anything more about the details of the whys?

[Charlie Baker]

The official line was that the site had a loyal niche audience, but it wasn't large enough.  Whether that means they were losing money or weren't making enough of a profit isn't clear.  The linked article also gets into how this may be another step in the AT&T Time Warner acquisition in leaning to more broad appeal platforms.  (Ugh, sorry. that was a little jargony for my taste.)

Variety on demise of FIlmstruck

Edited October 27, 2018 by Charlie Baker

[ratgirlagogo]

On 10/21/2018 at 11:00 AM, Rinaldo said:

his Tuesday's batch of Rita Hayworth includes her last movie, The Wrath of God. For the sake of her memory, I kind of wish they'd bypassed it, though I admit I'll DVR it so I can see at least a few minutes. Frank Langella devotes two chapters to it in his names-named memoirs, .............  the section about Hayworth is one of the saddest in the book. More or less finished in Hollywood at that date, desperately lonely, by intention a total pro during shooting but in fact unable to remember even a short line in the time it takes to call Action, at a time when Alzheimer's was still barely recognized as such by most... he writes about it with great sympathy but it's still not pleasant reading, nor I imagine will it be pleasant viewing. She was only 54.

Well,  I watched this.  First thing I have to say is that Rita Hayworth was not great, looked older than 54 and rather tired, but she gave a perfectly decent performance. If I didn't know I would not have known by watching how bad her Alzheimers' was at this time in her life.  She gave a much better performance than Paula Pritchett who was cast as a beautiful Native American who was - get this - a traumatic mute!    Watching her reminded me of Linda Christian in the original Planet of the Apes, or even more of those trashy Italian caveman/cavewoman movies like When Women Played Ding Dong that were all the rage at this same time period, where there would be no dialogue so none of the hot "actors" and "actresses" would have to remember any lines, just look good naked.  

There were a lot of what looked like expensive action sequences, including some tripwire stuff with horses (one did a full forward somersault) that I thought had been banned by the 70's.   It was an OK action movie but with a cast like this one would have expected it to have been much better.  

Edited October 27, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

The official line was that the site had a loyal niche audience, but it wasn't large enough.  Whether that means they were losing money or weren't making enough of a profit isn't clear.  The linked article also gets into how this may be another step in the AT&T Time Warner acquisition in leaning to more broad appeal platforms.  (Ugh, sorry. that was a little jargony for my taste.)

Variety on demise of FIlmstruck

That was a depressing read.  Also this jumped out at me:

Quote

 Earlier this year, it added Warner Bros.’ library of classic films; WB shut down the Warner Archive service and migrated customers over to FilmStruck. 

So now what happens to Warner Archive?  Why oh why don't they just agree to license these properties to small companies that will be able to market them to fanatical niche markets (like us)?

ETA: early reactions:  https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/filmstruck-shuts-down-directors-fans-react-1203006397/

Edited October 27, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[Charlie Baker]

Last minute schedule alert if anyone's interested:  Heat Lightning today 5:30 pm ET.  It's a short, heavy on the atmosphere, Warner Bros melodrama from 1934, set in a remote diner/auto stop. Yep, there are shades of Petrified Forest here, but the play this is based on actually predates Petrified Forest.  There's a very good cast, led by Aline MacMahon as the proprietor with a past.  She had a long career of consistently fine character work, but here she has the lead, and completely pulls it off, looking quite beautiful besides.  

[PaulaO]

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