TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

 

 

At first I thought "mistake," but I'm leaning on the side of intentional gag. There was a lot of humor at the time around the idea of soldiers "goldbricking" or else being given meaningless make-work by the army bureaucracy. The blocking even has Astaire and Benchley stop for a moment just so we can take in that guy in the background doing nothing. I never picked up on this background actor before, but I think he's meant to be doing exactly what he's doing.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[Inquisitionist]

I watched The Music Man recently.  Great songs and some funny gags, but I guess I'm immune to the charms of both Robert Preston and Harold Hill.  I wish Marion had kicked him to the curb but good.  

Interestingly (to me, if no one else), TMM won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958 along with 4 other Tonys, including one for Preston.  It prevailed over West Side Story, which won only two Tony Awards, for choreography and set design.  Fast forward to the early 1960s.   The movie adaptation of WSS is released in 1961; the next year it is nominated for 11 Academy Awards and wins 10, including Best Picture.  TMM has its movie release in 1962; it is nominated for 6 Oscars (none for acting) and wins only for Best Musical Score (Adaptation or Treatment).  What a difference!  

[VCRTracking]

19 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

I watched The Music Man recently.  Great songs and some funny gags, but I guess I'm immune to the charms of both Robert Preston and Harold Hill.  I wish Marion had kicked him to the curb but good.  

Interestingly (to me, if no one else), TMM won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958 along with 4 other Tonys, including one for Preston.  It prevailed over West Side Story, which won only two Tony Awards, for choreography and set design.  Fast forward to the early 1960s.   The movie adaptation of WSS is released in 1961; the next year it is nominated for 11 Academy Awards and wins 10, including Best Picture.  TMM has its movie release in 1962; it is nominated for 6 Oscars (none for acting) and wins only for Best Musical Score (Adaptation or Treatment).  What a difference!  

Like Sound of Music opening up the play with real locations made a huge difference. Plus Robert Wise filmmaking is so dynamic and Ernest Lehman made smart changes in adapting. Having the Sharks in the 'America" instead of just the girls, switching the placement of "Officer Krupke" with "Cool" so the former takes place before the rumble instead of after as it did onstage. Likewise "Cool" works much better finally after Riff's death and while it probably looks great onstage, in the movie? Wow.

https://youtu.be/hMMAB3MNCKw

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:

I watched The Music Man recently.  Great songs and some funny gags, but I guess I'm immune to the charms of both Robert Preston and Harold Hill.  I wish Marion had kicked him to the curb but good.  

I remember having a bit of a crush on him when we watched the movie in my sixth grade music class. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, though, so it'd be interesting to see it again as an adult and view it through that lens.

That musical is a source of pride for my town-Meredith Wilson was born and raised here, and took inspiration from the people he grew up with and the town as a whole for the characters and town in the play :). We have numerous nods to the musical throughout town-buildings referencing it, portraits in some businesses honoring Wilson and the actors, etc., and Wilson's childhood home is a local tourist spot as well. Apparently Shirley Jones appeared at our annual Band Festival parade one year to celebrate the anniversary of the musical or something, too. 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Annber03

[EtheltoTillie]

24 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I remember having a bit of a crush on him when we watched the movie in my sixth grade music class. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, though, so it'd be interesting to see it again as an adult and view it through that lens.

That musical is a source of pride for my town-Meredith Wilson was born and raised here, and took inspiration from the people he grew up with and the town as a whole for the characters and town in the play :). We have numerous nods to the musical throughout town-buildings referencing it, portraits in some businesses honoring Wilson and the actors, etc., and Wilson's childhood home is a local tourist spot as well. Apparently Shirley Jones appeared at our annual Band Festival parade one year to celebrate the anniversary of the musical or something, too. 

Wow, you live in Mason City?  I may be one of the few to recognize this.  My husband and I went there in 1988 for him to interview for a job.  We ended up remaining in NYC, but we enjoyed the visit.  We were also taken on a tour of the nearby town of Clear Lake, where the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly gave their last performance. 

[AuntiePam]

30 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

That musical is a source of pride for my town-Meredith Wilson was born and raised here, and took inspiration from the people he grew up with and the town as a whole for the characters and town in the play :). We have numerous nods to the musical throughout town-buildings referencing it, portraits in some businesses honoring Wilson and the actors, etc., and Wilson's childhood home is a local tourist spot as well. Apparently Shirley Jones appeared at our annual Band Festival parade one year to celebrate the anniversary of the musical or something, too. 

Waves at neighbor!  I'm about 80 miles south and was a participant in the band festival in the late 50's. 

I like Harold Hill's character but doubt the relationship would last.  My favorite from the movie is the song at the beginning, in the train. 

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, AuntiePam said:

Waves at neighbor!  I'm about 80 miles south and was a participant in the band festival in the late 50's. 

I like Harold Hill's character but doubt the relationship would last.  My favorite from the movie is the song at the beginning, in the train. 

I like the movie well enough.   It has a lot of good songs.  I like Shirley Jones, Ron Howard and even Robert Preston. 

Speaking of Meredith Willson, I watched The Unsinkable Molly Brown a few months ago, and that did not hold up at all.  I was bored.  I remember liking it when it came out (I was about 10).

Edited May 7, 2020 by GussieK

[EtheltoTillie]

Well, it was Quirky British Noir day today.  I caught the second half of an oddity named The Secret Partner.  I will avoid spoilers in case anyone wants to watch.  Bernard Lee (M from Bond films) plays a retiring detective out to solve his last case, involving Stewart Granger.

Then there was All Night Long, a tedious retelling of Othello in the guise of a competition among jazz musicians.  Patrick McGoohan is the lead bad guy.  Betsy Blair is a drunken naif with low self esteem, but she looks much better than she looks in Marty (really the only other role I'd ever seen her in).  Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus appear as themselves. 

This movie was only worth it for the short tacked on the end.  If you like NOLA jazz, you will love this one, featuring a young Louis Prima and some hopped up Lindy Hoppers.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by GussieK

[Annber03]

59 minutes ago, GussieK said:

Wow, you live in Mason City?  I may be one of the few to recognize this.  My husband and I went there in 1988 for him to interview for a job.  We ended up remaining in NYC, but we enjoyed the visit.  We were also taken on a tour of the nearby town of Clear Lake, where the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly gave their last performance. 

Oh, neat! I'm glad you enjoyed your time here-this is a pretty friendly area, yeah. I was born and raised here, so it'll always be home. Clear Lake is a nice town, too :). 

(And yes, I think one of the reasons we take such pride in The Music Man, aside from the obvious, is because it's the one big positive part of this general area's history 😛. Otherwise, we've got a few sad stories in our past, like that infamous plane crash.)

58 minutes ago, AuntiePam said:

Waves at neighbor!  I'm about 80 miles south and was a participant in the band festival in the late 50's. 

I like Harold Hill's character but doubt the relationship would last.  My favorite from the movie is the song at the beginning, in the train. 

Hey, neighbor! Talk about a small world. That's cool you were involved back then-they definitely like to go all out for that. My dad and I have each marched in that parade at one point as well for various things. 

I think you're right that the relationship would probably struggle some, yeah. It's always interesting to look at some of these classic romances through a modern lens, and see how they hold up. I do love the library song, though (perhaps in part because I've worked in a library :p?). And of course, "76 Trombones" is a classic. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Guys!  Shoot the Piano Player is on tonight.  This is really special to me.  I saw it as a college freshman in a group of friends that included my now husband.  We had just met.  We went to a campus showing, and the film broke at the last reel.  This was 1973, when they still had reels.  When the movie was screened again a couple of weeks later in a makeup showing, my hubby did not attend, because his roommate was no longer dating my roommate.  Hence, he has NEVER seen the end of the movie.  I will try to have him look at it later.  He has refused before.  (Footnote, we got together again the following year in a different friend group and have been together ever since.)

[Rinaldo]

On 5/5/2020 at 3:48 PM, AuntiePam said:

The Silver Cord, a pre-Code movie with Joel McCrea and Irene Dunne, and Laura Hope Crews as the domineering, needy mother of two sons.  Boy howdy but I enjoyed this one. 

I wondered why it was on TCM's pre-Code list.  An over-protective mother -- how violent or sexy could it be?  Well, it was pretty sexy, and open about the mother's unhealthy feelings toward her sons. 

Crews was excellent.  She had the very best lines, including "I'll never forgive you for making me do something so unthinkable in my own house!" 

My only complaint was that Joel McCrea gives no hint that he's going to do the right thing at the end.  How hard is to do a look of dawning realization, recognizing the truth about his mother?  ...

I enjoyed the movie too (it somehow seems like a famous title to me, how has TCM never shown it before?), and "my only complaint" is similar but not identical: McCrea's brother seems to be wised up about his mother in the last scene, repeating the doctor's words that she's been fooling and manipulating them with her fake illnesses... but that new awareness then vanishes without a word and he's the one still in her thrall at the end. I understand getting sucked back into a long-time habit, but couldn't he have let us see the transition happening? It almost seems as if the actors were directed to act their emotions moment by moment, never mind about continuity or transitions.

On 5/7/2020 at 11:11 AM, Inquisitionist said:

I watched The Music Man recently.  Great songs and some funny gags, but I guess I'm immune to the charms of both Robert Preston and Harold Hill.  I wish Marion had kicked him to the curb but good.  

Interestingly (to me, if no one else), TMM won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958 along with 4 other Tonys, including one for Preston.  It prevailed over West Side Story...

I adore The Music Man in every way, and have grown to love it more and more over the years, particularly during my two decades of teaching History of Musical Theater. I've explained why in past years on this forum, so I won't do it again.

The way it prevailed over West Side Story in the Tony awards is well known. I myself used to be guilty of the snobby grad-student habit of moaning about Great Art being overlooked in favor of populist Americana, etc. etc. But as I've come to appreciate it better, I'm happy about that award and think, "What a great year, to have two such contrasted masterpieces to choose between." And of course now it matters not at all which won which award -- we have them both to enjoy. 

[AuntiePam]

I rewatched An American in Paris only because I had just read the story on which it was based (it's in the Adaptations book), and was curious about the differences.  I wish I liked Van Johnson -- he's in so many movies -- but he just doesn't do it for me, in any capacity.  The movie's based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story and the changes were minor, nonsensical, and unnecessary.  The story was more of a character study than a tragic romance and I'd recommend it over the movie.

Watched Two Seconds, 1933, Edward G. Robinson.  Movie begins with Robinson being escorted to the electric chair.  We're told that it takes two seconds to die in the chair, and that two seconds is enough time to relive your life.  So we get to see how he ended up being executed.  Of course we knew as soon as he met the dance hall girl that she would be his downfall.  Still, the movie was well done and interesting, if a bit glib and talky (almost too much slang in some spots), and there was a courtroom scene at the end which was spectacular.  Not just Robinson's descent into madness, but a shot of the jurors where their heads looked other-worldly -- like lights, or stars in a night sky.  Very avant garde.  It had to be intentional and it was very effective.  Heck, the movie's worth watching for that scene alone.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

I rewatched An American in Paris only because I had just read the story on which it was based (it's in the Adaptations book), and was curious about the differences.  I wish I liked Van Johnson -- he's in so many movies -- but he just doesn't do it for me, in any capacity.  The movie's based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story and the changes were minor, nonsensical, and unnecessary.  The story was more of a character study than a tragic romance and I'd recommend it over the movie.

Oh this paragraph so confused me and sent me into researching mode because I didn't remember Van Johnson in An American in Paris.  He was in Brigadoon with Gene Kelly but not An American in Paris.  And based on a book? 

But I think this was supposed to be The Last Time I Saw Paris.  That was based on a book and did have Van Johnson.

[Milburn Stone]

Speaking of Van Johnson, have you seen him in The Caine Mutiny, @AuntiePam? It's an atypical role for him, and he's good in it. He also appears (the only time I'm aware) without makeup covering the scar he carried from his early-forties auto accident. That was his choice.

Wow, Two Seconds sounds like my kind of film. It's dark twisted-ness reminds me of a film I love from the following year, Crime Without Passion starring Claude Rains--written, produced and directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. I checked the imdb to see if there were any credits in common but there are none. From the sound of Two Seconds, both it and CWP were films noir before films noir were a thing. '33-'34 must have been a good vintage for that. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[Wiendish Fitch]

Re: Van Johnson

Hopping aboard the "not wild about Van Johnson" train. Like Glenn Ford, there's just something very punchable about his face and demeanor. Even when he's playing likable, I want him to go away. I think it's the cold, growly voice and and sulky face. He was in a bunch of lighthearted MGM musicals and he always felt so out of place (except Brigadoon, where's he's supposed to be a jerk).

Edited May 12, 2020 by Wiendish Fitch

[AuntiePam]

Gosh yes, The Last Time I Saw Paris -- it's not the first (or second or third time) that I've flubbed a movie title here.

I haven't seen The Caine Mutiny -- I'd probably appreciate Van Johnson in a non-romantic role.   Romantic leads in movies from the 30's until the 60's (generally) were classically handsome.  Van Johnson (and yeah, Glenn Ford) were just ordinary, so it's not believable when Liz Taylor and Rita Hayworth fall in love with them -- by the movie standards of that time period.  It's shallow, but it's how I was conditioned.  Some unconventional-looking movie stars had sex appeal and charisma (Humphrey Bogart) which more than compensated for not being handsome.

I don't feel the same way about newer movies.  Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Christopher Walken -- they're believable as romantic characters.

Yes, watch for Two Seconds.  I can't do descriptive justice to that courtroom scene, or to Robinson's monologue, arguing with the judge, or with himself.  He might be convincing himself that his execution is justified.  It would be understandable. 

[VCRTracking]

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Re: Van Johnson

Hopping aboard the "not wild about Van Johnson" train. Like Glenn Ford, there's just something very punchable about his face and demeanor. Even when he's playing likable, I want him to go away. I think it's the cold, growly voice and and sulky face. He was in a bunch of lighthearted MGM musicals and he always felt so out of place (except Brigadoon, where's he's supposed to be a jerk).

Wow I don't feel that way at all about either Glenn Ford or Van Johnson! Maybe because I first saw Ford as Pa Kent in SUPERMAN and Johnson on I Love Lucy.

5 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Speaking of Van Johnson, have you seen him in The Caine Mutiny, @AuntiePam? It's an atypical role for him, and he's good in it. He also appears (the only time I'm aware) without makeup covering the scar he carried from his early-forties auto accident. That was his choice.

I have seen Caine Mutiny and he's very good in it and very sympathetic. It helps that he's surrounded by Fred MacMurray in his "heel" persona and the bland young protagonist who actually does have a punchable face IMO! That's kind of awful to say since the actor died in a plane crash soon after the movie but his character is so uptight, callow and stiff. Bogart justly got the plaudits for his work as the paranoid Queeg but the real MVP is Jose Ferrer as the mutineers lawyer:

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Suzn]

7 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Re: Van Johnson

Hopping aboard the "not wild about Van Johnson" train. Like Glenn Ford, there's just something very punchable about his face and demeanor. Even when he's playing likable, I want him to go away. I think it's the cold, growly voice and and sulky face. He was in a bunch of lighthearted MGM musicals and he always felt so out of place (except Brigadoon, where's he's supposed to be a jerk).

I want to weigh in here - I like Van Johnson, particularly in Brigadoon, but can't stand Gene Kelly.  I appreciate his dancing, but see the over-inflated ego otherwise.

I do agree about Glenn Ford, yes, the face is very punchable. 

[Rinaldo]

5 hours ago, Suzn said:

I want to weigh in here - I like Van Johnson, particularly in Brigadoon, but can't stand Gene Kelly.  I appreciate his dancing, but see the over-inflated ego otherwise.

I wouldn't say that I "can't stand" Gene Kelly, but he sort of has to prove himself to me in each movie, almost in every scene. And although I'm more of an Astaire person if required to choose between them, and Kelly does turn me off sometimes, other times he makes himself impossible for me to resist: with Rita Hayworth (and especially when Phil Silvers joins them) in Cover Girl, with Judy Garland (he pairs better with her than Fred does), doing "I Got Rhythm" with the French kids in An American in Paris, making dramatic use of his abrasive side in It's Always Fair Weather.

[VCRTracking]

18 hours ago, Suzn said:

I want to weigh in here - I like Van Johnson, particularly in Brigadoon, but can't stand Gene Kelly.  I appreciate his dancing, but see the over-inflated ego otherwise.

I do agree about Glenn Ford, yes, the face is very punchable. 

You should see What a Way to Go! written by Comden and Green(Singing in the Rain, The Bandwagon) and starring Shirley Maclaine. She's an unlucky gal who after she marries someone they become successful but then die accidentally. Gene Kelly plays one of her husbands and his character is like a self parody. A movie star dancer with a big ego.

As for Glenn Ford, no need to punch him in the face, because a horse already kicked him there! According to Richard Donner's director commentary in Superman Glenn Ford asked him to only shoot the left side of his face. It's because when he was younger during a movie a horse accidentally kicked his right jaw so he only from then on he could only be shot from the other side.. I googled it and most of his photos and scenes in movies he's looking camera left.

Also I learned from Richard E Grant on the Graham Norton Show that it's the same with Barbra Streisand. Just the left side. Grant is a huge Streisand fan and when he met her she told him it's because shes slightly cross-eyed.

Edited May 13, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Rinaldo]

Somehow I had never heard that about Streisand. An older, perhaps more famous example of a star who insisted on being photographed from the left side only is Claudette Colbert. She was self-conscious about a bump on the right side of her nose (from a childhood injury), so designs and blocking had to take this into account. Three-quarter shots were OK, but full face or (while moving) right side would happen only in long shots.

[Milburn Stone]

6 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

You should see What a Way to Go! written by Comden and Green(Singing in the Rain, The Bandwagon) and starring Shirley Maclaine. She's an unlucky gal who after she marries someone they become successful but then die accidentally. Gene Kelly plays one of her husbands and his character is like a self parody. A movie star dancer with a big ego.

I like this movie--but remember it slightly differently. Her successive husbands don't die accidentally, they die as a direct result of the overwork and over-ambition to which they feel driven in order to be worthy of her sexiness. (Even though she loves them for their poverty.) 

There are also one or two late-model Jule Styne/Comden/Green songs, but I can't remember how they go right now.

[VCRTracking]

4 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

I like this movie--but remember it slightly differently. Her successive husbands don't die accidentally, they die as a direct result of the overwork and over-ambition to which they feel driven in order to be worthy of her sexiness. (Even though she loves them for their poverty.) 

There are also one or two late-model Jule Styne/Comden/Green songs, but I can't remember how they go right now.

Most of them. Robert Mitchum's death though was accidental. He's a millionaire and he and Shirley decide to give it up for the simple life and become farmers. One day he goes in the barn to milk the cow only he realizes to late it's their bull and he's kicked through the wall!

I found this thread today and thought "Should I post this on the Andy Griffith Show thread?" but decided no, his movies have played on TCM occasionally, plus I wanted you guys to check out this thread too:

 

[Irlandesa]

31 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

I found this thread today and thought "Should I post this on the Andy Griffith Show thread?" but decided no, his movies have played on TCM occasionally, plus I wanted you guys to check out this thread too:

I like that people in the comments were asking if she was sure she didn't mean Norman Fell.

[tennisgurl]

Really excited to see The General coming up soon, I have been on a bit of a silent movie kick lately. Watched Pandora's Box again last night, its just so haunting and creepy, and I love Louise Brooks so damn much, followed by A Trip to the Moon. Next up, I think I will finally watch City Lights, one of those famous movies that I have just never gotten around to. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

33 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Really excited to see The General coming up soon, I have been on a bit of a silent movie kick lately. Watched Pandora's Box again last night, its just so haunting and creepy, and I love Louise Brooks so damn much, followed by A Trip to the Moon. Next up, I think I will finally watch City Lights, one of those famous movies that I have just never gotten around to. 

City Lights is a masterpiece. It's on my personal list known as "Best Silent Films for People Who Hate Silent Films".

[VCRTracking]

36 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Really excited to see The General coming up soon, I have been on a bit of a silent movie kick lately. Watched Pandora's Box again last night, its just so haunting and creepy, and I love Louise Brooks so damn much, followed by A Trip to the Moon. Next up, I think I will finally watch City Lights, one of those famous movies that I have just never gotten around to. 

Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box is like a tornado, leaving human wreckage in her wake.

[ruby24]

Agree about City Lights. Although, Modern Times is my favorite Chaplin movie without a doubt. I LOVE it.

[LilWharveyGal]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Next up, I think I will finally watch City Lights, one of those famous movies that I have just never gotten around to. 

Enjoy! I'm not the biggest Chaplin fan but his face in the very last shot gets me every time.

[roseha]

Speaking of silent films I hope this isn't too off topic, but Ben Model, the accompanist who has played for silents for many years, is having a weekly Silent Comedy Watch Party over his Youtube Channel every Sunday at 3  PM Eastern.  It started as a one-off due to the coronavirus lockdown and he's kept it going - I believe this next one will be the ninth week.  It's three shorts a show, including some very rare ones.    I really recommend it for silent fans in particular:

Here's his Youtube page

[ratgirlagogo]

On 5/4/2020 at 12:09 AM, Milburn Stone said:

On 5/3/2020 at 7:13 PM, GussieK said:

Poorly constructed.  I didn't believe he'd really end up with the rich girl. 

Watched it tonight. I agree. They didn't plausibly establish why Alice Faye would be drawn to Dana Andrews in the first place.  Maybe we were meant to sense some "core of decency" in his grifter character, which she and she alone of all the characters could see, but I don't think the audience could see it! 

Eddie Muller has said that it was re-edited  in a way that made Alice Faye's character less plausible.  But the Dana Andrews character seems SO unlikeable throughout.  Only a really charming sexy likeable actor like, let's say for that time period, Cary Grant on the one hand and Robert Mitchum on the other and Edward G. Robinson on the third, , could have played a character who seems to be so clearly on the make throughout the film, and make us believe that he secretly is a great guy.  Dana Andrews - hell no. Why not just go for Tom Neal and be done with it.

On 5/9/2020 at 9:00 AM, Rinaldo said:

enjoyed the movie too (it somehow seems like a famous title to me, how has TCM never shown it before?)

It has been shown before, many times.  Thursdays are pre-code days most of the time and of course there's always Joel McCrea's birthday or something like it.  So many of McCrea's early films were things like this where he played a weak rich playboy who can't keep his dick in his pants.

Edited May 16, 2020 by ratgirlagogo

[Milburn Stone]

6 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Eddie Muller has said that it was re-edited  in a way that made Alice Faye's character less plausible.  But the Dana Andrews character seems SO unlikeable throughout.  Only a really charming sexy likeable actor like, let's say for that time period, Cary Grant on the one hand and Robert Mitchum on the other and Edward G. Robinson on the third, , could have played a character who seems to be so clearly on the make throughout the film, and make us believe that he secretly is a great guy.  Dana Andrews - hell no. Why not just go for Tom Neal and be done with it.

Agree right down the line--and thanks for the punchline at the end! Perfect.

It's a great insight you're sharing. I didn't think of a Cary Grant in the role, but that absolutely could have solved the problem.

I wonder if the only reason Dana Andrews seemed remotely plausible to Preminger was residual memory of his performance in Laura. I don't mean that Andrews was commercially viable because of Laura--it's obvious that he was--I mean that in that movie, his skills were sufficient that he was able to play a sympathetic character, and so Preminger/Zanuck et. al. fooled themselves into thinking he could do it with a script he couldn't hack. Heck, maybe audiences at the time bought it, entirely because of memory of his earlier performance! I can see how that could happen. Residual after-image is a powerful thing. But it can't work for us, because we don't have the recent cultural phenomenon of Laura hypnotizing us into seeing a performance that isn't there.

I saw Muller in the outro talk about the cutting of Alice Faye's part, and I remember thinking, "Yeah...that wasn't the problem."

[Wiendish Fitch]

Re: Fallen Angel

Yeah, that one was disappointing. Poor Alice Faye, God love her, she tried, but the script gave her nothing to work with (for the record, I never thought Faye was that bad an actress). The trope of the "bad man wants the bad woman, but falls for the good girl instead" had been done well before (Hold Back the Dawn comes to mind). It's corny, it's cliched, but it absolutely can work, but I just did not buy Dana Andrews and Alice Faye's relationship at all.

 

[VCRTracking]

Agree that Dana Andrews was a limited actor but he was really good at portraying veterans dealing with PTSD in Best Years of Our Lives and Zero Hour! The latter is interesting, because it was redone almost shot for shot but comedically in the spoof AIRPLANE! twenty years later. Even though you watch ZERO HOUR! and snicker at familiar lines like "We need someone who can fly this plane but didn't have fish for dinner."  said in a dramatic context, it still is riveting to watch to the end. You think "Is Dana Andrews going to be able to save all the passengers including his wife and child, thereby redeeming himself after leading his fellow pilots in a failed mission during the war?"

Edited May 16, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Rinaldo]

9 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

[The Silver Cord] has been shown before, many times.  

Well, I kind of thought so (as I said, the title seemed super-familiar)! But I thought I remembered the introductory material saying otherwise. I must have mis-heard or misunderstood.

[EtheltoTillie]

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Really excited to see The General coming up soon, I have been on a bit of a silent movie kick lately. Watched Pandora's Box again last night, its just so haunting and creepy, and I love Louise Brooks so damn much, followed by A Trip to the Moon. Next up, I think I will finally watch City Lights, one of those famous movies that I have just never gotten around to. 

Yes, recently tried watching Pandora.  Couldn't make it all the way through.  A taste was all I needed. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by GussieK

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

Well, I kind of thought so (as I said, the title seemed super-familiar)! But I thought I remembered the introductory material saying otherwise. I must have mis-heard or misunderstood.

I really need to see this Silver Cord movie now that you've all discussed it.  They didn't retain it on the TCM app, so I will have to keep watch for it again.  -

[tennisgurl]

City Lights was so good, I cant believe that its taken me this long to see it! Probably because I am not a huge Chaplin fan (Team Keaton!) but that was just so delightful. The boxing bit between the Tramp and the other boxer was a a major highlight, as was the ending, which was very moving. It was just a really lovely, heartfelt movie, and its a great showcase for Chaplin's skills in pantomime and physical comedy. 

[bmoore4026]

I saw Captain Blood today.  Loved it.  I was impressed how things kept going at a good clip.  There was nothing drawn out nor was there anything weighed down by any supernatural nonsense like a certain modern pirate film series along with a pirate captain that was dashing and good looking and not a Keith Richards knock off.  Plus, the chemistry between Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland was magnetic right off the bat.

Late tonight, there are going to be some of Burt Lancaster's swashbuckling films.  To quote Headley Lamarr: "How could he pull off such stunts with such tiny feet?"  Too bad I'm going to be in bed and will miss them 😞

By the by, what was Burt Lancaster's shoe size?

[EtheltoTillie]

I need someone to comment on There Was a Crooked Man.  I watched yesterday.  Another movie that somehow escaped my viewing when it first came out, and I gather it was not much of a success.  I remember the name, but never saw it, and it wasn't a movie that I remember people talking about considering what else we were seeing the same year.  What a roster of well-known acting talent!  Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Hume Cronyn, Lee Grant????  Too many more to list.  Direction by Joe Mankiewicz.  Yet such a weird, unpleasant, subversive story.  Also, everything was so dirty (grimy).  I'm always skeeved out by such realism.   Kirk Douglas's red hair dye was inexplicable. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by GussieK

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Late tonight, there are going to be some of Burt Lancaster's swashbuckling films.  ...  Too bad I'm going to be in bed and will miss them 😞

If you can somehow contrive to see The Crimson Pirate, I recommend you do so. It's not trying to be anything but a grand romp, and it succeeds.

[VCRTracking]

On 5/16/2020 at 2:46 PM, bmoore4026 said:

I saw Captain Blood today.  Loved it.  I was impressed how things kept going at a good clip.  There was nothing drawn out nor was there anything weighed down by any supernatural nonsense like a certain modern pirate film series along with a pirate captain that was dashing and good looking and not a Keith Richards knock off.  Plus, the chemistry between Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland was magnetic right off the bat.

😞

Ross Alexander is great as Jeremy Pitt. I was sad finding out he died from suicide not too long after the film's release. His first wife also killed herself more than a year earlier.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 5/16/2020 at 11:09 AM, Rinaldo said:

Well, I kind of thought so (as I said, the title seemed super-familiar)! But I thought I remembered the introductory material saying otherwise. I must have mis-heard or misunderstood.

I finally caught it on the TCM app today. The intro did say that it hadn’t been shown before. I found it to be more of a curiosity than a compelling story.  I also started watching The Wheeler Dealers, but I didn’t stick with it. Not really very funny. James Garner and Lee Remick looked great. Finally, I started watching The Crimson Pirate, but I didn’t stick with it either, as it was too silly. 

[Charlie Baker]

The New York Times' two chief film critics asked readers to watch What's Up, Doc? and then they shared commentary.  I know there are fans of this movie here, I'm certainly one, and maybe some of you would enjoy reading this. 

Weekend Watch: What's Up, Doc?

 

 

 

[EtheltoTillie]

On 5/20/2020 at 11:37 AM, Charlie Baker said:

The New York Times' two chief film critics asked readers to watch What's Up, Doc? and then they shared commentary.  I know there are fans of this movie here, I'm certainly one, and maybe some of you would enjoy reading this. 

Weekend Watch: What's Up, Doc?

 

 

 

What’s Up, Doc? Is supposed to be based on Bringing Up Baby. I have posted here before about my antipathy to BUB, so I am not watching.  

There was some mention of Flower Drum Song recently. I rewatched it tonight and loved it.  Even my husband watched. He was mysteriously drawn in by the overture music. Loved the preview interview with Nancy Kwan. She must be the only cast member still alive. The casting of people from different Asian groups might be somewhat controversial today, but I am not qualified to weigh in. The dancing was great. The kid who played the baseball playing son was a superb dancer, who also appeared in South Pacific (as did Juanita Hall). There’s not a bad song, although clearly we recognize that Enjoy Being a Girl is dated, to say the least. 

My big quibble is that poor Helen the seamstress is jilted by Ta.  He comes off as a real heel, and I didn’t buy his redemption nor Mai Li’s overlooking it in the end. This is a real plot hole. I didn’t remember this plot element from past viewings. Any comments?  
 

I do not have the energy to comment at length on The Sand Pebbles, which I watched for the first time ever two nights ago. This was apparently Asian actor week. The movie came out when I was 12 and I would not have seen it then as it had a reputation as very dull. I still thought the historical era was a strange choice for a blockbuster in the time of Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia. I’d like to comment more later and would be interested to hear anyone else’s thoughts. 

Edited May 23, 2020 by GussieK

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, GussieK said:

I do not have the energy to comment at length on The Sand Pebbles, which I watched for the first time ever two nights ago. This was apparently Asian actor week. The movie came out when I was 12 and I would not have seen it then as it had a reputation as very dull. I still thought the historical era was a strange choice for a blockbuster in the time of Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia. I’d like to comment more later and would be interested to hear anyone else’s thoughts. 

Director Robert Wise was deliberately making an allegory for Vietnam War. He said he wanted to show encroaching American militarism and the "Yankee go home" had been around for years.

[Milburn Stone]

13 hours ago, GussieK said:

What’s Up, Doc? Is supposed to be based on Bringing Up Baby. I have posted here before about my antipathy to BUB, so I am not watching.  

It's not based on Bringing Up Baby. It's unquestionably inspired by BUB, and the two main characters bear some relation to those in the earlier movie, but it's an entirely different plot with entirely different gags. (Kind of an ingenious plot, if you ask me, by Buck Henry--and some beautifully staged sight gags by Bogdanovich.)

So you might give it a try. Or not.

[EtheltoTillie]

10 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Director Robert Wise was deliberately making an allegory for Vietnam War. He said he wanted to show encroaching American militarism and the "Yankee go home" had been around for years.

Yes, this was clear to me now, seeing it at my advanced age.  The storyline is almost the same as Apocalypse Now!  What a dystopian ending!  That last boarding party expedition with the barbaric hand-to-hand fighting was gruesome. 

But I really remember the movie being derided at the time, and I remembered reading the Mad Magazine parody, which I managed to find with Google! http://www.thesandpebbles.com/mad_magazine/mad_sandpebbles.htm

I also knew the haunting theme music (by the great Jerry Goldsmith), so I guess I must have heard it played on the radio.

I really liked the movie, although Steve McQueen was a bit too modern.  The actor who played Stawski was great.  He had been used by Wise in I Want to Live! as the reporter.  And he was the psychiatrist at the end of Psycho. 

Special credit must be given to Mako, who was outstanding. 

And so many great set piece scenes:  The boxing match, the auction of Mai-Li, the execution of Mako's character, the last shootout at that Chinese palace.  So, highly recommended.

 

[EtheltoTillie]

Now for my Six Degrees rundown:  Robert Wise directed West Side Story, which was discussed here recently in comparison to FDS, as Oscar competition for that year.  And Mai-Li was also the name of the main character in FDS! 

I recently tried watching West Side Story, and I could not take Natalie Wood's horrible attempt at a Puerto Rican accent.  Ooof. 

[VCRTracking]

7 minutes ago, GussieK said:

Special credit must be given to Mako, who was outstanding. 

 

It's so great he became beloved by a whole new generation as "Uncle Iroh" on the Avatar the Last Airbender animated series. Forget the terrible live action movie, the show was as perfect as a series could be. Great characters, writing and animation.