TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[SomeTameGazelle]

Watched Edward, My Son yesterday. Why was Spencer Tracy cast in this rôle? For some reason I had never thought of Tracy as soft before but his Arnold Boult certainly wasn't hard enough to portray the practically sociopathic selfishness I think the part seems to call for. I wonder what Robert Morley thought of it. 

I also marvelled at how they aged Deborah Kerr in order to show her as a broken alcoholic at approximately 48. She looked like an octogenarian with a dowager's hump. 

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers Anouk Aimee who has passed away at age 92.

[Tom Holmberg]

Caught the Noir Alley showing of "Call Northside 777." I love all the scenes of Chicago in the late 1940s. The true life story of Helen Walker, who plays Jimmy Stewart's wife, is always sad, because she really does an effective job in the small role.

[Rinaldo]

On 6/17/2024 at 6:37 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

Watched Edward, My Son yesterday. Why was Spencer Tracy cast in this rôle? For some reason I had never thought of Tracy as soft before but his Arnold Boult certainly wasn't hard enough to portray the practically sociopathic selfishness I think the part seems to call for. I wonder what Robert Morley thought of it. 

I love Edward, My Son. What an intriguing and unique idea, to tell the life story of a man we never see, through the parents and the disintegration of their marriage and themselves. But yes, it's wrecked by the casting of Spencer Tracy; I was going to say "fatally" wrecked, but it's possible to look "through" his performance and see the movie it could have been. I have no inside info, but I suspect it was one of those "deal with the devil" situations: no big star name for insurance, no movie. So everyone convinces themselves that it'll be OK, we'll make him Canadian to get around his accent and allow him to be knighted by the end. But it doesn't play, the nuances of class and ambition are all wrong. He's trying to be "not like himself" but it's no use, it still doesn't play. At that date, surely James Mason would have been the dream casting.

On 6/17/2024 at 6:37 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I also marvelled at how they aged Deborah Kerr in order to show her as a broken alcoholic at approximately 48. She looked like an octogenarian with a dowager's hump. 

She's a wonder in this, isn't she? At 27, to accomplish all this so beautifully and without fuss. And at the end, not just her makeup but her acting making her almost unrecognizable in her sloppy drunkenness.

I'll also mention Leueen McGrath, just right in her brief appearance as our protagonist's bit-on-the-side. (I went so far as to buy a second-hand copy of the play, and the end of her story is different there, as is the end of the son's story and his love life. But the frame of the direct address to the audience is present.)

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I'll also mention Leueen McGrath, just right in her brief appearance as our protagonist's bit-on-the-side. (I went so far as to buy a second-hand copy of the play, and the end of her story is different there, as is the end of the son's story and his love life. But the frame of the direct address to the audience is present.)

I have read that they considered and discarded the idea of casting Katharine Hepburn in this part because they (correctly) didn't want to seem to overshadow Deborah Kerr with so much star power in a more minor role.  

5 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

it's wrecked by the casting of Spencer Tracy; I was going to say "fatally" wrecked, but it's possible to look "through" his performance and see the movie it could have been. I have no inside info, but I suspect it was one of those "deal with the devil" situations: no big star name for insurance, no movie. So everyone convinces themselves that it'll be OK, we'll make him Canadian to get around his accent and allow him to be knighted by the end. But it doesn't play, the nuances of class and ambition are all wrong. He's trying to be "not like himself" but it's no use, it still doesn't play. At that date, surely James Mason would have been the dream casting.

Oh, that's interesting. I confess I was picturing someone more in the Robert Morley mould. I tend to think of James Mason as more intense and romantic, if that's the right word, but perhaps I am thinking too much of A Star is Born and there is another example of his work that would illuminate how he would have portrayed "the nuances of class and ambition" which is the exact right phrase for what Tracy missed. 

[Rinaldo]

My mention of Mason was prompted by his range and versatility, combined with his being a suitable age then to cover the required ages; but for the nuances I mentioned, I can certainly recommend Odd Man Out, a 1947 Carol Reed film in which he's a wounded Irish Nationalist on the run. Or to indicate how little he was limited by "type" there's his Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues under the Sea) the same year as A Star Is Born, alongside his Brutus in Julius Caesar the year before; or the 3 movies released in 1959: suspense in North by Northwest (an understated villain), light comedy (with some class awareness) in A Touch of Larceny, and Jules Verne fantasy in Journey to the Center of the Earth.

At the end of the 1960s we got a new wave of British male stars in movies that critiqued their class system (Laurence Harvey, Albert Finney, Alan Bates, Richard Harris), but aside from any other consideration, they'd have been too young at the time of Edward, My Son. 

If someone wants to revive the play on Broadway right now, I'd cast Dominic West and Emily Blunt.

[mariah23]

Cross your fingers and toes so there’s not a third: TCM Remembers Donald Sutherland who passed away at age 88.

[Tom Holmberg]

56 minutes ago, mariah23 said:

Cross your fingers and toes so there’s not a third: TCM Remembers Donald Sutherland who passed away at age 88.

His autobiography is due out in Nov.

Made Up, But Still True by Donald Sutherland
ISBN: 9780593728789

The long-awaited, bracingly candid, and utterly unpredictable personal story of movie legend Donald Sutherland, sharing his deep passion for acting, his intense journey through success and loss, and every wild story in between
 
As one of the most enduring actors in Hollywood, Donald Sutherland has made an indelible mark on the industry since his life-changing role in M*A*S*H catapulted him into the public eye nearly sixty years ago. With his raw honesty and wicked sense of humor, the renowned actor chronicles his life in this generation-defining book, cataloging with powerful detail his far too many brushes with death, his loving relationship with his parents, and behind-the-scenes stories of the movies he’s starred in, including M*A*S*H, Klute, Kelly’s Heroes, Don’t Look Now, Ordinary People, JFK, The Eye of the Needle, Fellini’s Casanova, 1900, The Hunger Games, and more.

In Made Up, But Still True, Sutherland offers an unfiltered account of his life that is deeply insightful, emotional, and often very funny. In 1937 he was treated for infantile paralysis, followed a couple of years later by a bacterial infection that required a hammer and chisel to clean up his mastoiditis. Later in life, a rheumatic fever could have killed him, and after that, a bout with spinal meningitis did kill him, but only for a few seconds, then left him in a coma that took him a good while to come out of. As a sixteen-year-old he experienced his first sexual relationship, his first love, his first lessons in love. She was twice his age and they had a wonderful time. He also reveals the onstage triumphs that began his career; the pitfalls that threatened it and the movies that burnished it; and the on- and off-set hijinks that gave it all color.

With surprising candor and powerful, lyrical prose, these unforgettable reminiscences offer an unprecedented look at the remarkable life of a legendary—and legendarily private—Hollywood icon.

 

[Rinaldo]

Those of us of a certain age will remember conversations before MASH  was released; someone would ask who the stars were, and the answer would be something like, "Oh, that tall skinny guy who was in The Dirty Dozen... him, and Barbra Streisand's husband." 

[EtheltoTillie]

I enjoyed some of the Juneteenth lineup. Questlove commented on the music for Car Wash and Mahogany (a golden turkey on the order of Valley of the Dolls).  Then there was also Shaft. Three movies with monster hit theme songs. Per Questlove the music made mediocre movies better. 

Edited June 22 by EtheltoTillie

[Crashcourse]

I was so sorry that Shaft came on so late, so I missed it.

[EtheltoTillie]

51 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I was so sorry that Shaft came on so late, so I missed it.

Yeah, seems like they're not showing it on Watch TCM.  I only watched the second half of Shaft, as I had fallen asleep and woke up.  Car Wash is still on the app.  Also Sparkle.  That came on after Shaft, but I haven't watched it yet (rewatch, that is--saw it when it came out).  That's another movie with great music.  RIP Irene Cara.  A really good feature for me as an east coaster is to try to pick up the west coast feed on the app.  They show the same movies three hours later on the watch live tab. 

Musician peeps:  How do they make those popping sounds in the Shaft theme song?  Is it some kind of guitar manipulation?

Edited June 22 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

RIP Tony LoBianco.  Died June 11.  Did anyone post that?  For LoBianco completists, they are still showing the lurid Honeymoon Killers on Watch TCM.

[Raja]

11 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

 

Musician peeps:  How do they make those popping sounds in the Shaft theme song?  Is it some kind of guitar manipulation?

The iconic sound on the theme from Shaft would be a wah wah effects pedal on an electric guitar, made popular  by Wah Wah Watson, but played by Charles Pitts on this track. There are other effects used like a phaser on guitars also in the tune

Edited June 22 by Raja
correcting the musician's credits

[EtheltoTillie]

For funsies I watched a YouTube video about phasers.  I recognized the sounds but would not have been able to know what to call the device beforehand. 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

For funsies I watched a YouTube video about phasers.  I recognized the sounds but would not have been able to know what to call the device beforehand. 

I can put my bass through a flanger, phaser, octave pedals and chorus pedals and have a hard time distinguishing them when they are not at full intensity 

[EtheltoTillie]

So I rewatched Sparkle last night.  I really like the music.  So interesting that they decided to use Aretha for the soundtrack album when they had great singers already on the soundtrack.  Oh, well.  (I've actually never listened to the Aretha record.  I just learned about it last night.)

Meanwhile, I have always been confounded by the ending and I was still bothered.  Philip M. Thomas (later known with middle name Michael) (Stix) stands up to the mob after they put a gun to his head.  Then the gun guy goes back to his boss and reports that Stix refused to cooperate.  Yay.  Except then the boss is Mr. Gerber himself and not some other mobster.  He smiles with grudging respect.  So Mr. Gerber was actually the one behind the attempt to hijack Sparkle's career the whole time?  Then he just shrugs it off and says oh well, at least I tried? 

Oh, yeah, what happened to the other sister, Delores, who left home for education?  Did she not come back to see the triumphant Carnegie Hall performance and she just vanished from the family? 

 

Edited June 23 by EtheltoTillie

[voiceover]

Another burp in the TCM scheduling: Dave Karger intro’d and outro’d Hunchback of Notre Dame…twice (I’m assuming). I tuned into watch Little Women, scheduled to follow, and after a few minutes of “WTF”-ing up & down the room, was appeased by regularly-scheduled-following-wrong-introduction.

No mere film could ever replace the book that’s been where my heart should be, ever since I was eight years old.  But someday I’d love to download the ‘33, ‘49, ‘94, & 2017 versions, and re-edit them into one big movie (with several cases of repeating scenes).

One of my favorite moments in this version is when Jo (Winona Ryder) visits the family attic.  She opens a trunk and discovers her sisters’ props from their childhood game of recreating Dickens’ Pickwick Papers.  Voiceovers of the sisters (and Laurie), quoting passages from Alcott’s book, inspire her to write what turns out to be Little Women.  There’s a tidy connection from the trunk in that scene, to a poem about it in the book (it’s that poem that brings the Professor to Jo, but I’m fine with the change).  

 

[chessiegal]

Seeing today will feature movies with Van Johnson made me smile. Van Johnson was my mother's favorite. Probably the raciest thing my mother ever said - "Van Johnson can put his shoes under my bed any night". 😉

[Charlie Baker]

This past week's Noir Alley The Locket was new to me.  A more obscure psychological thriller from around the same time as Spellbound, and Eddie Muller says he likes it better than Spellbound.  I got into it, myself.  Somehow it pulls off a nesting flashbacks structure without seeming ridiculous, and it has Robert Mitchum as his star was ascending, playing an atypical role. The direction and photography are very stylish.  I wonder if this is something of a cult item. Leonard Maltin in his Classic Movie Guide doesn't like it much. 

[Charlie Baker]

Sidney Lumet was born 100 years ago today.

And June Lockhart turns 99.

[voiceover]

From the “Oh, come ON!” Dept.:

Scrolling through the TCM app, reading the articles attached, I stumbled over this on the Little Women page:

”Susan Sarandon plays Marmee, a role first made famous by Katharine Hepburn…”

*facepalm*

Spring Byington played the March girls’ mother in the 1933 film.  Hepburn was cast as the second-eldest sister, Jo — the tomboy, the writer, the free spirit, the incarnation of the book’s author.  It was a role Kate was born to play, and she was memorable in it.

That’s a big mistake.  Like writing about how great Vivien Leigh was as Ellen O’Hara, or that Judy Garland “first made famous” the role of Auntie Em.

Who is proofing this stuff?? 

 

[chessiegal]

3 hours ago, voiceover said:

Who is proofing this stuff?? 

Who is writing it in the first place? I've found errors on IMDb pages. I created an account to correct them.

[MissAlmond]

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Who is writing it in the first place? I've found errors on IMDb pages. I created an account to correct them.

Fact checking has become a lost skill.

Edited June 27 by MissAlmond

[StatisticalOutlier]

Ten years ago, the vaunted Robert Osborne made a very serious error when talking about the movie "Where is the Friend's House?" 

The movie, from 1987 and directed by Abbas Kiarostami, was set in a village in Iran and featured nonprofessional actors, including two boys in particular, one of whom was the star.  Osborne said that the 1990 earthquake in Iran destroyed the village where the movie took place, and the boys were never found.

It's true that the village was destroyed, but the boys didn't die, and in fact appeared in a later Kiarostami movie, in 1994. 

Somebody posted to the imdb message boards to share Osborne's news about the boys' fate, and a few people replied that it was heartbreaking.  Fortunately, other people responded with the facts, but who knows how many people just believed what Osborne said and were made sad for no reason whatsoever. 

https://filmboards.com/board/t/Sad-news-about-the-actors-1731351/

Truly off topic:  I'm glad this came up because it prompted me to find that thread, to be sure I was remembering it correctly.  That led me to read all my other posts to the imdb message boards, and I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. 

[Rinaldo]

On 6/25/2024 at 1:15 AM, voiceover said:

But someday I’d love to download the ‘33, ‘49, ‘94, & 2017 versions [of Little Women]

Can we clarify that last one as 2018 (yes?), so we can make room for the 2017 TV miniseries as well? The time provided by 3 one-hour segments allows some scenes to be included that aren't in any other adaptation, and I quite liked it, though as you say no single version has everything. In this one, I especially liked Dylan Baker, Michael Gambon, and Angela Lansbury as respectively Father, Mr. Laurence, and Aunt March.

Edited June 28 by Rinaldo

[Charlie Baker]

Just to note here, for anyone who may not know yet, this site (Primetimer) will not be publishing new content after today.  See here for the information.  I read and enjoyed much of it, and it definitely had a different feel than most show business news/TV sites. The forums are going to continue without interruption. For a good long time, I hope.  TCMers gotta TCM.

[voiceover]

2 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Can we clarify that last one as 2018 (yes?), so we can make room for the 2017 TV miniseries as well?

I was actually referring to the miniseries, which I love.  There are bits included (the sisters & Laurie singing “God Bless You, Good Queen Bess” to a recovering Beth; “Land of the Leal”, which was a family favorite; and, while a bit overdone, Marmee’s self-admitted temper issues) because the mini-series format allowed the time for them.  And Jonah Hauer-King (Laurie) looked like he fell out of the book.

I did not include the 2019 Gerwig film because I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.   Horribly miscast (though Timothee Chalamet was an okay Laurie), written, and directed (Pulp Fiction-ing the timeline was a stupid stunt).

Greta wanted to make a Louisa May Alcott biopic.  It might've worked that way.

[Rinaldo]

Ah, I was misled by our overall topic here. So yes, we agree about the miniseries. I don't hate the Greta Gerwig film, but I was also bewildered by all the attention and praise it got. It seemed to me like an interesting experiment (of a type I sometimes like) that didn't quite work and apparently wasn't really thought through.

[mariah23]

TCM Remembers screenwriter Robert Towne who passed away at age 89.

[Charlie Baker]

First I'd heard of this--tonight is the first of three Wednesday nights honoring Roger Corman.

Directed by Roger Corman

[mariah23]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

First I'd heard of this--tonight is the first of three Wednesday nights honoring Roger Corman.

Directed by Roger Corman

I recently discovered that Corman was born the day before my grandfather was.

[Charlie Baker]

Eva Marie Saint, friend of Robert Osborne and TCM, turns 100 today and fittingly is the Star of the Month .

[Calvada]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

Eva Marie Saint, friend of Robert Osborne and TCM, turns 100 today and fittingly is the Star of the Month .

They are showing her delightful 2014 interview with Robert Osborne from the TCM film festival tonight, although you would never know that from their online schedule, which lists On the Waterfront at 7:00 Central to be followed by North by Northwest at 10:15.  But my DVR guide says the interview will be shown between these two iconic films; I'm hoping that's the case.  

Right now, I'm doing my annual watch of 1776, which is historically inaccurate in so many details both large and small, but I have a fondness for it.  It wouldn't be the Fourth without being entertained by William Daniels and Howard Da Silva.

[Crashcourse]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

Right now, I'm doing my annual watch of 1776, which is historically inaccurate in so many details both large and small, but I have a fondness for it.  It wouldn't be the Fourth without being entertained by William Daniels and Howard Da Silva.

I watch it every 4th of July.  I can't help myself. 😆

[graybrown bird]

On my TV, today's TCM movies are unwatchable -- the audio out of sync with the visual.

[chessiegal]

Audio and visual are okay on my tv (4:14 ET).

[graybrown bird]

I watch via Spectrum cable, maybe that's the problem.

[ebk57]

1 hour ago, graybrown bird said:

I watch via Spectrum cable, maybe that's the problem.

Also on Comcast.  

[chessiegal]

I'm on Verizon Fios, audio and video are in sync.

[Rinaldo]

My Comcast TCM is in sync.

[HyeChaps]

OMG The Music Man was out of sync on Optimum. So distracting on the songs.

[voiceover]

12 hours ago, Calvada said:

It wouldn't be the Fourth without being entertained by William Daniels and Howard Da Silva.

Adams [meaning Jefferson & Martha]: You mean they’re going to…in the middle of the afternoon??

Franklin: Not everyone’s from Boston, John.

[Charlie Baker]

Today would be the 120th birthday of the actor known as:

Milburn Stone

[Tom Holmberg]

33 minutes ago, Charlie Baker said:

Today would be the 120th birthday of the actor known as:

Milburn Stone

AKA, "Doc Adams"

[Mindthinkr]

Watching The Women on TCM. I think I like it better than the newer one. 
Especially the fashion show. Such wear by Adrian. 

[lurkerbee]

26 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Watching The Women on TCM. I think I like it better than the newer one. 
Especially the fashion show. Such wear by Adrian. 

I know I do. I adore the original and like to pretend that newer one never happened.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I love The Women. No, a lot of it hasn't aged well, but with that witty dialogue, impeccable casting, gorgeous fashions, scene-stealing Marjorie Main... well, can you see why I can forgive it of any sins?

[Charlie Baker]

Friday nights this month have Ben and Mario Cantone showing 70s movies, when they both came of age, maybe? 

This week's Noir Alley, tonight and tomorrow AM, is Armored Car Robbery, which I've seen, and I'll be interested to hear Eddie's commentary. The director Richard Fleischer and star Charles McGraw made the excellent Narrow Margin together--this isn't in that league. But it's short and tough and has some neat, unglamorous 1950s LA locations.  And look out for William Talman (of Perry Mason fame) as the heist leader.

Last week's Noir Alley, No Questions Asked, is kind of nifty,  and kind of subversive, and It's on Watch TCM for most of July. 

Edited July 7 by Charlie Baker

[EtheltoTillie]

I started watching both New York, New York and Mr. Goodbar, from Mario's picks.  I have to finish, as I stopped watching for a work deadline.  NY NY still seems as terrible as it did at time of its release.  DeNiro is just playing twitchy Rupert Pupkin/Travis Bickle.  But I want to see the deleted scenes they're restored. 

I was happy to hear Mario do his Liza and Bette Davis impressions. 

I was watching an old documentary a couple of weeks ago about gay comedians, and they featured Rip Taylor.  It occurred to me that Mario totally channels Rip Taylor's voice and manner!  This was a Pride related showing--can't remember where I saw it now, but I think it was on TCM.  Rip Taylor did a prop comedy routine before Carrot Top.  So delightfully silly. 

Edited July 7 by EtheltoTillie