TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, StrictTime said:

I admire Ozu very much, so I recorded all of the movies shown on Friday. I’ve watched all of them except for Tokyo Story, which breaks my heart every time I watch it.I have to be in the right frame of mind for that one. That said, it is one of the best movies of all time, IMO.

A good comparison is the American movie Make Way for Tomorrow.  I can no longer watch it but it should be seen once. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Here's a doozy from Gloria Grahame Day.  The Cobweb.

The cable banner description reads like a parody of a real movie:  "The director (Richard Widmark) of a psychiatric institute presides over the crisis of selecting new curtains for the library."  Says one poster on Movie Chat:  The Drapes of Wrath.  

Is it really about the curtains?  Or what they symbolize?  The patients want to choose their own curtains as part of their therapy.  Lillian Gish has some agenda to save money.  Widmark's wife (Grahame) is upset about Widmark's fling with Lauren Bacall, so she sneaks in and hangs her own hideous set of drapes and triggers a crisis. 

It has a big-name cast, like an Arthur Hailey story, but it looks like a Douglas Sirk melodrama, and plays like an SNL skit.  Directed by Vincente Minelli. You must watch.

 

[Milburn Stone]

15 hours ago, GussieK said:

It has a big-name cast, like an Arthur Hailey story, but it looks like a Douglas Sirk melodrama, and plays like an SNL skit.  Directed by Vincente Minelli. You must watch.

I was always intrigued by what I knew about this movie. Gloria Grahame? Oscar Levant? In the same movie, directed by Vincente Minnelli? Sign me up! But then I saw it.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 8/22/2021 at 5:16 PM, GussieK said:

A good comparison is the American movie Make Way for Tomorrow.

Supposedly Make Way for Tomorrow was Ozu's inspiration for Tokyo Story.  I saw the American film many years after I saw the Ozu film and only found out the connection then, after reading about the film online.  

I saved up Tokyo Story to watch last of my recordings from Setsuko Hara's day, since I knew it would destroy me.  I also felt more of the Make Way for Tomorrow connection this time, but I also felt Tokyo Story was a greater film.  That whole famous conversation at the end between Noriko and Kyoko is both more subtle and emotionally BIG than anything in the American film, much as I admire it.

Edited August 26, 2021 by ratgirlagogo

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Supposedly Make Way for Tomorrow was Ozu's inspiration for Tokyo Story.  I saw the American film many years after I saw the Ozu film and only found out the connection then, after reading about the film online.  

I saved up Tokyo Story to watch last of my recordings from Setsuko Hara's day, since I knew it would destroy me.  I also felt more of the Make Way for Tomorrow connection this time, but I also felt Tokyo Story was a greater film.  That whole famous conversation at the end between Noriko and Kyoko is both more subtle and emotionally BIG than anything in the American film, much as I admire it.

Holy cow!  

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 7/18/2021 at 9:45 AM, SomeTameGazelle said:

It was the Mickey/Judy version that I had anticipated for too long and was disappointed in. (It's possible that Mickey just gets up my nose and ruins any enjoyment I might otherwise get.) I will have to add the 1932 version to my list of things to compare and contrast. 

 

I gave the Judy Garland Girl Crazy another chance. It turns out I dislike Danny Churchill intensely (especially the way he is obnoxious right up until the moment he is suddenly kind to Ginger for the first time after her disappointment in Henry) and am annoyed by the fact that most of the songs are diegetic. Could You Use Me might be the only one that definitely isn't. That said, I did appreciate Embraceable You (although I would have liked it more if it had either established her interest in Henry or even Danny in the story) as well as But Not For Me (which did function to bring out the emotions she was feeling, thank goodness). 

[SomeTameGazelle]

I also recorded The Pirate on Judy Garland day. I have a very soft spot for it despite the weak songs and the distractingly weird hat Manuela is wearing in the first scene. Gene Kelly appears to be in his physical prime and the script makes me laugh. 

I also watched The Dark Angel with Merle Oberon last night. I was interested when I heard it had been written by Guy Bolton, whose name I knew in relation to his collaborations with P G Wodehouse. I can understand why people describe it as dated, but I have a weakness for all those early 20th century romance tropes. They remind me of the novels of Mary Burchell. 

[EtheltoTillie]

8 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I also recorded The Pirate on Judy Garland day. I have a very soft spot for it despite the weak songs and the distractingly weird hat Manuela is wearing in the first scene. Gene Kelly appears to be in his physical prime and the script makes me laugh. 

I also watched The Dark Angel with Merle Oberon last night. I was interested when I heard it had been written by Guy Bolton, whose name I knew in relation to his collaborations with P G Wodehouse. I can understand why people describe it as dated, but I have a weakness for all those early 20th century romance tropes. They remind me of the novels of Mary Burchell. 

I never heard of her. What an interesting figure. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 8/26/2021 at 11:25 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I gave the Judy Garland Girl Crazy another chance. It turns out I dislike Danny Churchill intensely (especially the way he is obnoxious right up until the moment he is suddenly kind to Ginger for the first time after her disappointment in Henry) and am annoyed by the fact that most of the songs are diegetic. Could You Use Me might be the only one that definitely isn't. That said, I did appreciate Embraceable You (although I would have liked it more if it had either established her interest in Henry or even Danny in the story) as well as But Not For Me (which did function to bring out the emotions she was feeling, thank goodness). 

I've seen all the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland musicals, and in each one I'm baffled as to what she sees in him. Granted, I'm biased, because I can't stomach Rooney (except when he's playing Santa Claus).

IMO, Judy, not Mickey, is the reason to watch these movies. She effortlessly steals the show, and even in the most mediocre and/or ill-advised numbers (*WF shudders at the memory of "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee"*), Judy is always a knockout. Her rendition of "But Not for Me" in Girl Crazy is an absolute heart-crusher, and she looks beautiful singing it. 

I know it has its defenders, but I've never been able to get into The Pirate. Sorry. Maybe someday I'll give it another chance, but not now.

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I know it has its defenders, but I've never been able to get into The Pirate. Sorry. Maybe someday I'll give it another chance, but not now.

If Judy's singing is what makes you overlook the drawback of Mickey Rooney in other movies, there's not much for you in The Pirate, IMO. I mean, Judy is fine, but the tunes are not especially memorable and the lyrics are far from Cole Porter's best. I often skip the musical numbers when I watch The Pirate -- at least the singing, because Gene Kelly's acrobatic dancing is one of the delights of the film for me. 

[mariah23]

7 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

If Judy's singing is what makes you overlook the drawback of Mickey Rooney in other movies, there's not much for you in The Pirate, IMO. I mean, Judy is fine, but the tunes are not especially memorable and the lyrics are far from Cole Porter's best. I often skip the musical numbers when I watch The Pirate -- at least the singing, because Gene Kelly's acrobatic dancing is one of the delights of the film for me. 

Don’t forget his tight shorts.

[SomeTameGazelle]

24 minutes ago, mariah23 said:

Don’t forget his tight shorts.

"Underneath this prim exterior, there are depths of emotion, romantic longings..."

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

If Judy's singing is what makes you overlook the drawback of Mickey Rooney in other movies, there's not much for you in The Pirate, IMO. I mean, Judy is fine, but the tunes are not especially memorable and the lyrics are far from Cole Porter's best. I often skip the musical numbers when I watch The Pirate -- at least the singing, because Gene Kelly's acrobatic dancing is one of the delights of the film for me. 

Minnelli in the forties and early fifties had a sure hand with comedy--and this film is one of his funniest. 

It took me a while to realize that, because I'd always viewed the film as being "arty," or "for specialized tastes" or vaguely "European" when I like my musicals American. But then I watched it later in life and found myself delighted by its wit. The second-tier Cole Porter songs aren't enough to spoil that for me. The script by Hackett and Goodrich, the direction, and the performances by Judy, Gene, and Walter Slezak, are wonderful.

[benteen]

Recently watched Abandon Ship!, staring Tyrone Power.  It was a good film.  A grittier and grimmer version of Lifeboat, although Lifeboat is a far superior film, not least of which is because of Hitchcock, the script and the cast.  But this was a good film and it was surprising how grim it was for 1957, although being inspired by a true story probably helped that.  I'm always impressed when a movie can pull off a limited, tight set and when they can do it in water, that's also impressive.  

One of the reasons I wanted to check it out is because it featured two of the main cast members from Upstairs, Downstairs 14 years before the show debuted.  David Langton (Richard Bellamy) and Gordon Jackson (Hudson).  Both actors are easily recognizable and it was cool to them in another role.

[Charlie Baker]

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

[meowmommy]

3 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

Quote

Visitors to this month’s Telluride Film Festival, for example, will be greeted with banners bearing artwork that juxtaposes scenes from the George Cukor and Bradley Cooper remakes of “A Star Is Born,” or the John Wayne and Jeff Bridges incarnations of Rooster Cogburn from their versions of “True Grit.”

No.  Just no.

[mariah23]

4 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

Jury’s still out on the new look.  I’ll probably get used to it.

[MissAlmond]

6 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

If they turn TCM Remembers into another lackluster Academy Awards In Memoriam, I'll ride at dawn.  

[mariah23]

43 minutes ago, MissAlmond said:

If they turn TCM Remembers into another lackluster Academy Awards In Memoriam, I'll ride at dawn.  

I'll be right beside you.

[Sarah 103]

 

16 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

As long as they show classic movies made before 1980 uncut and commercial-free, they can change the logo and the sets. 

[StrictTime]

The new animated logo really reminds me of the Criterion Channel’s logo. I’m surprised the two are so similar.

[Milburn Stone]

The "C within C" makes it look like Comedy Central.

[EtheltoTillie]

Unimpressed with new logo.  But I really care about content.  If they keep that the same, I'll be happy.  I used to work in magazines.  Every so often you had to change your design and logo and typeface to look "new." 

[EtheltoTillie]

The Jazz Singer:  What the actual what?  Aside from the blackface problem, what was the big deal about Al Jolson?  I was watching this and trying to understand his appeal.  All I could see was a lot of shameless mugging by a creepily made up egomaniac.  His singing is of such an outdated style I couldn't understand why it was popular even then.  And it's certainly not jazz. 

Then I tried reading some Wikipedia and other background, and I was puzzled even further.  It is claimed that he inspired such devotion from audiences that they would give him 45 minute ovations and the like.  I wonder if all of this is PR hype that has become entrenched reality over the last century. 

[Rinaldo]

3 minutes ago, GussieK said:

The Jazz Singer:  What the actual what?  Aside from the blackface problem, what was the big deal about Al Jolson?  I was watching this and trying to understand his appeal.  All I could see was a lot of shameless mugging by a creepily made up egomaniac.  His singing is of such an outdated style I couldn't understand why it was popular even then.  And it's certainly not jazz. 

Then I tried reading some Wikipedia and other background, and I was puzzled even further.  It is claimed that he inspired such devotion from audiences that they would give him 45 minute ovations and the like.  I wonder if all of this is PR hype that has become entrenched reality over the last century. 

I'm no devotee of Al Jolson's performance myself, never have been (I've always preferred the controlled performers over the ones who "give" so much, they spill their guts on the floor). But there's no denying that he really was that huge, it's not a myth. The biggest songwriters were happy to write for him, illustrious singers were proud to duet with him. I think it is somewhat of a lost style now, hard to recover or to imagine how it ever worked; but we have the evidence that it did work.

And it's tempting to say "it's not jazz" (that would be my first reaction too), but in fact it was. The word's meaning has evolved over time. We have a general understanding of what jazz is now, but it meant something different in 1920, when it was widely agreed to mean "the new American sound" (as opposed to European waltzes and polkas). It encompassed a vaudeville stomp as well as the most polite and smooth of theater composers (Jerome Kern was understood to write "jazz" back then). It's one of a dozen or more terms that I would make sure students understood on the first day of class, when I taught History of Musicals, because their meaning changed over the decades. It's one additional confusion on top of the confusion that Jolson can now cause; but I find it worth while to sometimes ask myself "Why was this once popular? / Why did that person become a star?" even if I can never actually share the feeling myself.

[Milburn Stone]

Re Jolson: The creepiness (to our modern eyes) is there without the blackface, too. In The Singing Kid (1936), to give him his due, he "puts over" (as they used to say) two terrific Harold Arlen-Yip Harburg songs, "I Love to Sing-a" and "You're the Cure for What Ails Me." But his acting performance in the storyline parts of the movie is so full of self-regard, it verges on the nauseating.

When I was a child, my grandmother, who was a young woman in the 1920s, gave me an LP of his radio performances from the Kraft Music Hall in the late 40s, because she idolized him so much and knew it would blow my mind. Truth to tell, I did enjoy that record, and it no doubt was an important part of my musical education. 

[EtheltoTillie]

9 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

Re Jolson: The creepiness (to our modern eyes) is there without the blackface, too. In The Singing Kid (1936), to give him his due, he "puts over" (as they used to say) two terrific Harold Arlen-Yip Harburg songs, "I Love to Sing-a" and "You're the Cure for What Ails Me." But his acting performance in the storyline parts of the movie is so full of self-regard, it verges on the nauseating.

 

Yes, I thought the creepiness was without the blackface.  He had ghoulish rings around his eyes. 

I confess I'm a fan of the Warner Bros. cartoon version of "I Love to Sing-a."

32 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

 

And it's tempting to say "it's not jazz" (that would be my first reaction too), but in fact it was. The word's meaning has evolved over time. We have a general understanding of what jazz is now, but it meant something different in 1920, when it was widely agreed to mean "the new American sound" (as opposed to European waltzes and polkas). It encompassed a vaudeville stomp as well as the most polite and smooth of theater composers (Jerome Kern was understood to write "jazz" back then).

I will allow that he gave a little swing to the performance of "Blue Skies."

[Charlie Baker]

9 minutes ago, GussieK said:

I confess I'm a fan of the Warner Bros. cartoon version of "I Love to Sing-a."

I love that one!  The exasperated Papa to his son: "You jazz singer! You crooner! You falsetto!"

The closest to a contemporary equivalent to the outdated Jolson style that slayed 'em in its day I could think of would be some of Mandy Patinkin's recordings in the late 80s/early 90s. Not all that contemporary, right?  But Patinkin offered up that unabashed, "guts on the floor" (h/t @Rinaldo) style, even covering some songs Jolson popularized.  His performing persona is easier to take than Jolson, though I know some don't care for it.  Sometimes I don't.  And I hasten to add I've admired Patinkin's work on stage in musicals and on film and television in dramas (Homeland!). 

Unrelated and a bit more back in line with the TCM topic.  The Summer Under the Stars offerings this year seemed pretty rich to me.  I appreciated getting the chance to explore the work of George Segal and especially Van Heflin further than I've had before.  So worthwhile to have a day of Ozu and Setsuko Hara.  How about those Navarro selections, @voiceover ? 

Now that I've seen some of the refreshing of the brand touches, I guess we'll just wait and see if content and approach alter all that much.  But in keeping with the linking of the past and nearer-to-present, last night's movies about silent movies' lineup had Sunset Blvd. and Singin' in the Rain but also Carl Reiner's 1969 The Comic and Martin Scorsese's (quite good) 2011 Hugo.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Ugh, Al Jolson. Even without the blackface, what was the appeal? This scrawny, balding twerp who just oozed desperation and always looked like he was in pain. Whenever I see or hear Jolson, I mentally paraphrase Mike Nelson of RiffTrax: "I hope they never invent charisma and talent!"

Edited September 3, 2021 by Wiendish Fitch

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/29/2021 at 8:39 AM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I often skip the musical numbers when I watch The Pirate -- at least the singing, because Gene Kelly's acrobatic dancing is one of the delights of the film for me. 

I now always skip everything but the dancing with Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers.

[Charlie Baker]

Now that I've seen the new intros--I miss Ben's previous, "The movies are in my blood" Now Playing open, and the new Noir Alley open is quite lame.  

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Now that I've seen the new intros--I miss Ben's previous, "The movies are in my blood" Now Playing open, and the new Noir Alley open is quite lame.  

I'm sorry to hear that about the Noir Alley open. I DVR them so haven't seen the latest. But one thing I noticed, in setting the DVR, was that they're starting later. Saturday 11:30 Central one week, Midnight Central the other. (Sunday morning airing is still the same.) I wonder if this is permanent. I'm not crazy about it if it is. (Even though I never watch in real time!) I guess the reason it matters to me is if it's a sign the series is being marginalized.

[ratgirlagogo]

So far I don't care much one way or the other  about the new design elements, except the lower right hand corner bug.  I do think the C looks enough like the Criterion Collection  C that this is going to re-establish some kind of connection there, which is good.  What I DISLIKE about this new bug is that it  shows on the screen a few inches to the left, which means that it covers the far right portion of the subtitles on the silent films and the foreign films.  This gets a huge BOO from me and I already emailed them about it.  Probably would get more attention if I were a social media person. grrrrrrrrr.

[bmoore4026]

Tonight is Orphan Night on TCM.  What is with our obsession with orphans in media?

[Tom Holmberg]

14 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Tonight is Orphan Night on TCM.  What is with our obsession with orphans in media?

The world has an obsession with orphans.  Just look at Dickens.

[EtheltoTillie]

17 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

The world has an obsession with orphans.  Just look at Dickens.

I watched Oliver! again. It was great. 

[Tom Holmberg]

9 hours ago, GussieK said:

I watched Oliver! again. It was great. 

The songs are very memorable unlike many more recent musicals.

[EtheltoTillie]

14 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

The songs are very memorable unlike many more recent musicals.

They are.  I think this show really deserves its place in the pantheon of musical shows.  I just read about the composer, Lionel Bart.  What a sad story.  Oliver! was his biggest success, and he went broke and sold his rights for 350 pounds. 

  The songs really move the story, and the acting and staging was great.  The last 20 minutes with the killing of Nancy and Sikes were intense!

[EtheltoTillie]

Doing one of my comparisons.  HBO Max is showing the David Lean version of Oliver Twist, so I'm rewatching that too.  I have never seen the Polanski version, and it seems not to be available now.  Has anyone seen it?

 

 

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

They are.  I think this show really deserves its place in the pantheon of musical shows.  I just read about the composer, Lionel Bart.  What a sad story.  Oliver! was his biggest success, and he went broke and sold his rights for 350 pounds.

I'm not a big fan of musicals.  I've made it a point of never seeing "The Sound of Music."  I tell everyone the only musical I ever liked was "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade."

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

The songs really move the story, and the acting and staging was great.  The last 20 minutes with the killing of Nancy and Sikes were intense!

It helped that Oliver Reed is playing Sikes.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Tom Holmberg

[EtheltoTillie]

On 9/7/2021 at 8:37 PM, bmoore4026 said:

Tonight is Orphan Night on TCM.  What is with our obsession with orphans in media?

BTW, I think it was orphan musical night, rather than ordinary orphan night.  They showed Annie.  That was no Oliver!

[Charlie Baker]

The stage musical of Annie was not done justice by that movie; with that cast, the movie should have been better.  (The 1999 Disney TV show is better.)  And I'm hardly a pushover for a show with kids and a dog.  But the book of the stage musical is funny and well-crafted, the new songs in the movie do not equal the stage score, and the songs the movie dropped add to the show.   I understand that maybe two generations grew up with the movie as their concept of the show, and I suppose I should resign myself to the possibility that the upcoming live TV edition will incorporate stuff from the film.  

Conversely the movie of Oliver is quite strong and keeps the Dickensian spirit of the stage show.

[xaxat]

On 9/1/2021 at 9:33 AM, Charlie Baker said:

Well...

TCM Gets A Makeover

I found out about this in a promo featuring Ben

Ben: We know our viewers don't like change.

Me (jumping to conclusions): You SOBs, don't tell me you're going to show ads! You'll ruin everything!

Ben: We have a new set, and a new logo.

Me: I can live with that.

Edited September 10, 2021 by xaxat

[AgathaC]

I’ve always loved the Oliver! musical numbers but I have to stop the movie after “Oom Pah Pah.” Nancy’s story is just too traumatic. As a kid, I watched it quite a few times but I think I blocked some things out because when I saw it again as a teen, I was absolutely stunned.

[tennisgurl]

Curse of the Demon AND Cult of the Cobra tonight? I have to set my DVR, I am going to be in goofy 50s horror movie heaven. I am hoping to get some classics as we get closer to Halloween, everything from Dracula to Plan Nine. 

I don't mind the new title or sets, they look nice enough. 

[Tom Holmberg]

22 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

  I tell everyone the only musical I ever liked was "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade."

.

 

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, AgathaC said:

I’ve always loved the Oliver! musical numbers but I have to stop the movie after “Oom Pah Pah.” Nancy’s story is just too traumatic. As a kid, I watched it quite a few times but I think I blocked some things out because when I saw it again as a teen, I was absolutely stunned.

Yes, in watching it again this week after a number of years I was struck by how much it would scare little kids. 
 

I completed my rewatch of the David Lean movie, and if anything the Fagin and Sikes characters were even more frightening than in the musical. The little boy was so beautiful. 

Edited September 10, 2021 by GussieK

[Rinaldo]

18 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Conversely the movie of Oliver is quite strong and keeps the Dickensian spirit of the stage show.

I would put it more strongly, and say that the movie Oliver! is a great improvement on the stage show (this almost never happens). The weaker songs are omitted (Bill Sikes's solo, for one, though it can be heard as instrumental underscoring -- "villain" songs are notoriously hard to write convincingly unless one goes all the way to opera), "Oom Pah Pah" is turned from a divertissement into a suspenseful plot moment, and the overall design is wonderful (one of the few times a mixture of realistic locations and stage-like sets has really worked). Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Jack Wild all provide terrific performances. And I have to give a special word (given my own speciality) to John Green for his extraordinary orchestrations, some of the best a movie musical ever had.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 8/14/2021 at 4:55 PM, BooksRule said:

Have any of you noticed TCM advertising a certain movie, but then when the time comes for it a totally different movie is aired?  Way back in May I set my DVR to record 'Earth girls are easy' (I had never seen it and am a Jeff Goldblum fan).  It was one of those late-night segments (Up All Night, TCM Underground, etc.).  Well, I finally go around to watching it yesterday and was very surprised that even though it was still labeled 'Earth Girls are Easy' on the DVR recording, the movie that actually aired was Blake Edwards' 'S.O.B.'  :(  (Now I do like that movie, too, but I already own it on DVD.)  I was a little bummed. 

If you subscribe to a streaming tv service like ATT TV, Youtube TV, or Hulu Live, sometimes films get substituted because of rights issues. Technically, everything on those services is being shown "over the internet" and certain films/programs can't be cleared for that.

Edited September 10, 2021 by Lois Sandborne

[Inquisitionist]

On 9/9/2021 at 4:14 AM, GussieK said:

I watched Oliver! again. It was great. 

Carol Reed and team did a great job staging those big production numbers.  On a walking tour of London almost 30 years, led by an actor/carpenter, we thought we were seeing the "crescent" of houses where Who Will Buy... was filmed (our guide said he recalled dancing there), but according to many reports, the entire movie was filmed on sets at Shepperton Studios.  Amazing!