TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Palimelon]

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 7/24/2024 at 7:36 PM, Crashcourse said:

All that money flying around at the end!  

Why did be even bother with all that loose cash?  I get not wanting to leave any behind, but it was so inefficient.

There's a reason they put loose bills and not wrapped bundles in those machines where you put someone in there and they can keep all the money they can grab as it flies around.

Also, of course my mouth dropped open and I was mad at the way the guy with the gun shooed away the parking gate attendant.  But that seemed so stupid.  Why did the gun guy have to make such a nuisance of himself?  He could have gotten his desired position in the parking lot by lurking near the entrance and either been the first car in when it opened, or gotten in line if other cars had shown up. 

(Never mind a paraplegic driving that car.  We have a sports car and I can barely get in and out of that thing, and I have two working legs.  Plus wouldn't it have been a manual transmission??)

And why did he have to shoot from the car anyway?  At first I thought it was like a drive-in movie where everybody's watching the action from their cars, so he obviously needed to be in the front row.  But there was nobody in the cars so it really was just a parking lot.  Seems to me he should have been on the ground hidden between parked cars to do the shooting.

Sterling Hayden was as tall as most of the doors he stood beside.

Regardless of the above, I enjoyed the movie.  The dialogue, especially between the meek guy and his floozy wife?  Fantastic!

And as always, Eddie Muller.  I love that guy.

 

 

[Rinaldo]

August and Summer Under the Stars are coming soon. This year seems to have a good mix of top classic names and less expected names. There are quite a few first-timers: 

• Julie Andrews (8/4)
• Gordon MacRae (8/5)
• Peter Ustinov (8/7)
• Eleanor Powell (8/8)
• Meryl Streep (8/10)
• Anita Page (8/12)
• Jean-Paul Belmondo (8/13)
• Jerry Lewis (8/17)
• Jose Ferrer (8/21)
• Robert Shaw (8/23)
• Grace Kelly (8/24)
• Ossie Davis (8/27)
• Leo Gorcey (8/29)

[EtheltoTillie]

21 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

That is an interesting insight. If I do watch it again, I'll have that in mind and maybe it will help.

It doesn't explain why all of Kubrick's movies from 2001 on were super-long and super-methodically paced--some of them more successful for me than others--but that doesn't invalidate the insight. Very possibly Kubrick was influenced by 19th century English literature to want to emulate it in all these movies.

(I myself am a devotee of the novels of Anthony Trollope and I believe he influenced my writing style in some ways, although perhaps it's not always apparent!)

I love Trollope!

As for Kubrick, in the last few days people have been posting some awful things about him, maybe because Shelley Duvall’s death inspired recollections of the bad behavior on the set of The Shining, filling me with ambivalence about enjoying his films. Sigh. I really like Dr. Strangelove, FWIW.  

[EtheltoTillie]

17 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

August and Summer Under the Stars are coming soon. This year seems to have a good mix of top classic names and less expected names. There are quite a few first-timers: 

• Julie Andrews (8/4)
• Gordon MacRae (8/5)
• Peter Ustinov (8/7)
• Eleanor Powell (8/8)
• Meryl Streep (8/10)
• Anita Page (8/12)
• Jean-Paul Belmondo (8/13)
• Jerry Lewis (8/17)
• Jose Ferrer (8/21)
• Robert Shaw (8/23)
• Grace Kelly (8/24)
• Ossie Davis (8/27)
• Leo Gorcey (8/29)

Meryl Streep has never had a day?  Surprising. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Meryl Streep has never had a day?  Surprising. 

Surely until relatively recently Streep would have fallen outside the "classic" film mandate. I thought they used to be quite strict about movies being 25+ years old and was occasionally surprised as as got older and the films seemed to get newer but when I did the math they were in fact that old. But recently I think I have seen some movies within the 25 years -- at least I was shocked to see the 2001 Moulin Rouge when they honoured Nicole Kidman.

Also a Trollope fan here. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Oh that makes sense @SomeTameGazelle  I wasn’t thinking about the mandate to show classics. I’m still startled to see ‘80s films on TCM. I’m used to seeing 70s films.  
Speaking of which, I’m finally making it through Looking for Mr. Goodbar. A meta moment: Diane Keaton sitting at a bar reading The Godfather.  

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I love Trollope!

@EtheltoTillie, you and I need to go over to the Book topic in Pop Culture, where I'm sure nobody else is talking about him. And then you and I will be the only ones talking about him. And everyone else will click Ignore. :)

Edited to bring this slightly on topic: Why oh why has there never been a movie of a Trollope novel? There have been scads of Jane Austen movies and Charles Dickens movies. And at least one Henry Fielding movie. The BBC did a couple of multipart adaptations for television of Trollope (the one based on the first two Barchester novels was pretty good; it featured Alan Rickman). But has there ever been a Trollope movie? I can't think of one.

Offhand I think The Eustace Diamonds could make a movie.

Edited July 29 by Milburn Stone

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

@EtheltoTillie, you and I need to go over to the Book topic in Pop Culture, where I'm sure nobody else is talking about him. And then you and I will be the only ones talking about him. And everyone else will click Ignore. :)

Edited to bring this slightly on topic: Why oh why has there never been a movie of a Trollope novel? There have been scads of Jane Austen movies and Charles Dickens movies. And at least one Henry Fielding movie. The BBC did a couple of multipart adaptations for television of Trollope (the one based on the first two Barchester novels was pretty good; it featured Alan Rickman). But has there ever been a Trollope movie? I can't think of one.

Offhand I think The Eustace Diamonds could make a movie.

There's one guy at the book topic who's been reading War and Peace . . .

[Sarah 103]

 

4 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Surely until relatively recently Streep would have fallen outside the "classic" film mandate. I thought they used to be quite strict about movies being 25+ years old and was occasionally surprised as as got older and the films seemed to get newer but when I did the math they were in fact that old. But recently I think I have seen some movies within the 25 years -- at least I was shocked to see the 2001 Moulin Rouge when they honoured Nicole Kidman.

That makes sense and is also useful information. I would not be upset if TCM showed a movie that was 20 years old, because that is still enough time to determine if something is a classic, has staying power, influence, or any other quality that would make it classic. 

[Rinaldo]

4 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

But recently I think I have seen some movies within the 25 years -- at least I was shocked to see the 2001 Moulin Rouge when they honoured Nicole Kidman.

They do allow themselves more recent titles in service of special topics, including days honoring specific contributors (which extends to Summer Under the Stars).

I noticed with Streep, they're including 3 relatively recent films of hers but are otherwise staying pretty early in her career, including Julia, her debut in which she's seen only in a couple of brief scenes in passing.* And that movie was nearly half a century ago, so it's fair to consider Streep a "classic" by now.

(*Though this pales in comparison to Marlene Dietrich, for whom they devote 3 hours to a movie in which she has only a quick jokey cameo -- Around the World in 80 Days, of course.)

[Palimelon]

Julia is not the first movie one would think of when thinking of Meryl Streep, beyond the trivia aspect of it being her debut (good film otherwise though).

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, Palimelon said:

good film otherwise though

I agree about the quality of the film, and I don't suppose it really matters while watching that it's been pretty conclusively established that Lillian Hellman's story of herself and her friend Julia didn't happen -- or rather, happened to someone else entirely. ("Julia" most probably never existed, though there's room for some debate there. Any article about Hellman's "Pentimento" will lay out the saga; Nora Ephron has also written entertainingly and not unsympathetically about her initial idolization of Hellman, whom she knew, dwindling into later disillusionment.)

[Palimelon]

It really doesn't matter, as it's a film, not a documentary. I don't expect most films to be as accurate as they claim to be, or even accurate at all, if we are being honest.

[Milburn Stone]

On 7/29/2024 at 3:47 PM, Palimelon said:

It really doesn't matter, as it's a film, not a documentary. I don't expect most films to be as accurate as they claim to be, or even accurate at all, if we are being honest.

In some ways all non-documentaries (and many documentaries) based on real life personages and events are false, and knowingly deceptive in that they want to "eat their cake and have it too." The makers want to make entertaining films, and that means taking liberties; and they want audiences to flock because of the promise of receiving an education. They could make a movie about a fictional character named Philippa Hemingsworth and no one would show up, because there's no promise of learning. So they make the movie about Jane Austen instead. They'd be more honest (if less wealthy) to make a movie with no pretense of being anything but fiction, because the promise of the biopic genre that "you'll learn something" is betrayed by every false move. You may learn something--and chances are it will be wrong.

Edited August 1 by Milburn Stone

[Charlie Baker]

Well, Eddie said he wanted Noir Alley to go out with a bang before Summer Under the Stars takes over for the month.  The Housemaid is a 1960 Korean film directed by Kim ki-young, and Eddie draws a line from it to one director and movie influenced by it, Bong Joon Ho and Parasite.  The Housemaid is really a somewhat surreal horror film, with stylistic touches reminiscent of noir.  And it's dark, grim, and some might feel, sick. For sure some sensationalistic content for 1960.  It's on Watch TCM through most of August, should you dare.

[voiceover]

9 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Nora Ephron has also written entertainingly and not unsympathetically about her initial idolization of Hellman, whom she knew, dwindling into later disillusionment.

A terrific essay that belongs in the “Never Meet Your Heroes” collection.

[EtheltoTillie]

I highly recommend The Green Years, which is essentially the Scottish version of How Green Was My Valley.  Even my husband was persuaded to watch, and he doesn't usually join me in my excessive TCM viewing. 

Young Robbie (Dean Stockwell--fantastic performance) is orphaned and returns from Dublin to live with his mother's kin in Scotland.  Hume Cronyn is his miserable cheapskate grandfather (he charges his own mother rent!).  Jessica Tandy plays Cronyn's daughter (yeah, I know, it's crazy!), and Charles Coburn is marvelous as the great grandfather who outwits Cronyn.  Tom Drake plays the older Robbie. 

[Crashcourse]

17 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

Well, Eddie said he wanted Noir Alley to go out with a bang before Summer Under the Stars takes over for the month.  The Housemaid is a 1960 Korean film directed by Kim ki-young, and Eddie draws a line from it to one director and movie influenced by it, Bong Joon Ho and Parasite.  The Housemaid is really a somewhat surreal horror film, with stylistic touches reminiscent of noir.  And it's dark, grim, and some might feel, sick. For sure some sensationalistic content for 1960.  It's on Watch TCM through most of August, should you dare.

I watched it, loved it, and still getting over how I got punk'd at the end.

[fairffaxx]

This afternoon, TCM showed The Letter (1940), starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, & James Stephenson, based on W. Somerset Maugham's play (which was based on a true incident).  The finest opening of any film ever, in my view -- & the rest of the movie is also excellent.  I'm always happy to run into this, no matter how often.

[Charlie Baker]

BD said in an interview once her two Oscars should have been for The Letter and All About Eve (and maybe a third one for Baby Jane).  James Stephenson is excellent in what might have been a nothing role and totally deserved his Oscar nomination.

[EtheltoTillie]

They took The Green Years off Watch TCM, but someone has posted it on YouTube. 

[Rinaldo]

15 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

BD said in an interview once her two Oscars should have been for The Letter and All About Eve

I can get behind that. The Letter provides a great vehicle for an actress who's adept with subtext (different inner and outward personalities). Jeanne Eagels was also memorable in her early-talkie version that TCM shows sometimes. And I remember Lee Remick being perfectly suited in the telefilm from the 1980s. I wish there were a channel that made a specialty of airing such movies-of-the-week; the networks sure made a ton of them.

[Wiendish Fitch]

The Letter is fantastic, an absolute master class in acting, storytelling, and suspense. It's funny that Herbert Marshall would play some poor dope foolish enough to love Bette Davis in both this and The Little Foxes (truth be told, I find him more sympathetic in that film).

[Charlie Baker]

1 hour ago, Rinaldo said:

 I wish there were a channel that made a specialty of airing such movies-of-the-week; the networks sure made a ton of them.

That would be nice. A while back TCM did an evening of them, and some turn up on a random basis on the broadcast channel Movies. There are a number floating around You Tube,  and I wonder if the free streamers with ads might not have some in their libraries.  There were so many of them, as noted.

I posted here before about my appreciation of Lee Remick.  She had quite a string of good TV movies and miniseries in her later career, as I recall. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I was also going to add that about the TV movies being available on YouTube. But some are awful prints. Maybe some turn up on Freevee and Tubi and those sorts of channels. 

22 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

BD said in an interview once her two Oscars should have been for The Letter and All About Eve (and maybe a third one for Baby Jane).  James Stephenson is excellent in what might have been a nothing role and totally deserved his Oscar nomination.

James Stephenson was excellent. Too bad he died so soon after. 

[Rinaldo]

It's true: such things do pop up unpredictably all over these days. Too often, alas, in muddy Nth-generation prints from someone's private library.  Some of those apparently even gain quasi-legal status to be sold openly on DVD on Amazon (like the George C. Scott Jane Eyre, the 1969 David Copperfield with the amazing cast, and the Levinson-Link thriller Guilty Conscience, all of which I bought).

Be that as it may, I just checked and the 1982 The Letter is indeed on YouTube, and not in the Spanish dubbing that used to be its only online presence. This one was posted 4 months ago so I don't feel so bad about not knowing it was there. But I'll be watching it this weekend. On a brief check, the print looks rather soft-focus and washed out, but honestly in better shape than many from this TV era.

 

Edited August 1 by Rinaldo

[EtheltoTillie]

Here's what looks to be a decent copy of the Jeanne Eagels version.  I'm going to watch both of these. 

[Sarah 103]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:54 PM, Charlie Baker said:

That would be nice. A while back TCM did an evening of them, and some turn up on a random basis on the broadcast channel Movies. There are a number floating around You Tube,  and I wonder if the free streamers with ads might not have some in their libraries.  There were so many of them, as noted.

That would be awesome. Since many of the free streamers are tied to studios/networks, it would mean a ton of new shows/movies for people to watch (new as in the old NBC tagline for summer reruns "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you"). They wouldn't have to promote them in ads, just put the made for TV movies/mini-series on the home screen as "new to the streaming platform" or "first time on (insert name of platform here)." 

[Tom Holmberg]

2 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Since many of the free streamers are tied to studios/networks,

Funnily, back in 1948, when the movie studios owned movie theaters, a law suit brought about the Paramount Decree that prevented film production companies from owning exhibition companies.  But now we are back to production companies owning the exhibition companies.

[voiceover]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:41 AM, Rinaldo said:

And I remember Lee Remick being perfectly suited in the telefilm [of The Letter] from the 1980s.

And what a cast!!  Ian McShane played her lover; Jack Thompson (so wonderful in Breaker Morant) was her husband; Kieu Chinh (who was cast as a love interest to Hawkeye Pierce) was the victim’s wife.  Wilfred Hyde-White was the judge!

[Bastet]

As someone who had the Netflix DVD rental service until the day it died, one of the things I miss about it is how many TV movies it had available.  There were always terrible productions, and some that were awesomely bad, but for a very good stretch there we also got some enjoyable, well-made movies.  Some are available on a streaming platform, more as unauthorized YouTube uploads which can, of course, disappear at any time, and then Netflix was this wonderful additional resource.

[Rinaldo]

12 hours ago, voiceover said:

And what a cast!!  Ian McShane played her lover; Jack Thompson (so wonderful in Breaker Morant) was her husband; Kieu Chinh (who was cast as a love interest to Hawkeye Pierce) was the victim’s wife.  Wilfred Hyde-White was the judge!

And Soon-Tek Oh (memorable for years in a variety of roles that were unfortunately too small and too few for his talent) as the lawyer-in-training.

Edited August 2 by Rinaldo

[Tom Holmberg]

On 7/31/2024 at 11:41 AM, Rinaldo said:

I wish there were a channel that made a specialty of airing such movies-of-the-week; the networks sure made a ton of them.

One of my favorites was "The Challenge" (1970) with Darren McGavin and Mako fighting WWIII on a Pacific island.

[Charlie Baker]

And another one with Darren McGavin -- Tribes where he's a boot camp drill instructor and Jan-Michael Vincent a hippie draftee.  And The Night Stalker where he's a reporter investigating vampires, which led to a series.

Ah, the memories come flooding back... :-) I should stop now.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

And another one with Darren McGavin -- Tribes where he's a boot camp drill instructor and Jan-Michael Vincent a hippie draftee.  And The Night Stalker where he's a reporter investigating vampires, which led to a series.

Ah, the memories come flooding back... :-) I should stop now.

Tribes used to rotate onto ABC every year. Meanwhile our syndicated station would have Jack Webb as a 50s Marine Drill Instructor movie  The D.I. regularly 

Edited August 3 by Raja

[Charlie Baker]

From Ida Lupino day, a movie I discovered last year on Noir Alley, less known than a lot of the titles on her day, I think: Deep Valley.  It's noir, but with a rural Gothic atmosphere. A weird combo, but it works. She has something of an unusual part for her but pulls it off.  And she's got a solid partner in Dane Clark, as a chain-gang escapee her country girl character takes up with.   On Watch TCM all month.

[Rinaldo]

I just finished watching (rewatching, I guess, but after 23 years...) the TV The Letter with Lee Remick et al. It's good. The overall hypocrisy and colonialist smugness, which is an integral part of this story, is given its weight without being overdone, and all the actors do their part to bring the story to effective life. Of course it doesn't replace the ones with Eagels or Davis, but it doesn't have to; we can keep and enjoy them all.

Apparently it's been widely recognized how good a dramatic vehicle Maugham's story is, as it's been filmed much more often than I'd realized. Besides the 3 versions we already discussed, movies were made in 1930-31 in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, and much later another in Russian. And in the days of dramatic anthology series on TV, episodes were devoted to adaptations starring Madeleine Carroll, Sylvia Sidney, Siobhan McKenna (this one directed by William Wyler who did the 1940 film), Celia Johnson, Dulcie Gray, and Eileen Atkins. Plus, there's a musical and an opera. 

Edited August 3 by Rinaldo

[EtheltoTillie]

Guys, here's another version of The Letter!  It's a 1956 TV version directed by Wyler, seems to follow the BD movie.  Anyway, it's a chance to see Anna Mae Wong as the Chinese woman. 
ETA this is one of the versions mentioned by @Rinaldo

Edited August 4 by EtheltoTillie

[Charlie Baker]

The wacky About Face is on tomorrow at 2 pm ET as part of Gordon MacRae day, and could turn up on Watch TCM, who knows?  I was introduced to this one by @EtheltoTillie.  It's a musical version of Brother Rat, silly fun of its time (1952) if you're in the mood.  Bonus: a very young Joel Grey.

Edited August 4 by Charlie Baker

[EtheltoTillie]

@Charlie Baker I have another oddball film to recommend.  Circle your calendars for Jeanne Crain Day!  I love Jeanne Crain.  This time they're showing the very difficult-to-find Margie.  This is unavailable for purchase on DVD or digital.  Maybe because of the potentially inappropriate content in the vein of The Major and the Minor (IYKYK).  I love both movies for what it's worth.  I have seen replays of Margie on YouTube.) 

Anyway, I can't wait to hear what you others will say about Margie.  Margie is a great feminist heroine.  Also, JC does her own ice skating.  Apparently she was a figure skating competitor.

Also showing will be the little-seen Pinky, about a white-passing Black woman.  I have not seen that for years. 

I have never seen The Tattered Dress, so I will watch that.

Two movies include Thelma Ritter!  A Letter to Three Wives and The Model and the Marriage Broker.  (Maybe they will show The Mating Season one of these days, with Thelma and Gene Tierney instead of JC.)  (They're not showing Leave Her to Heaven with Gene and Jeanne, but I digress.)

Other favorites on the list:  State Fair and People Will Talk. 

Edited August 5 by EtheltoTillie

[Tom Holmberg]

TCM changed their schedules and I really dislike the new ones. Here's another source for schedules: http://www.escapepress.com/tcmsched/tcm_overview.html

 

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Two movies include Thelma Ritter!

They need Thelma Ritter day!

[EtheltoTillie]

See above:  I now note that The Tattered Dress is a premiere--so no wonder I haven't seen it before.  Anyone else ever see it? 

Edited August 5 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

Julie Andrews Day:  I watched The Tamarind Tree.  Had never seen before.  Interesting spycraft twister.  Problem for me (and other IMDB commenters) is no chemistry between leads Julie and Omar Shariff.  Julie Andrews always wore that ugly helmet/pixie hairdo.  So unattractive and not sexy.  I just don't get it.  During the 60s and 70s I didn't get it.  I didn't know anyone who wore such a terrible hairstyle. 

Edited August 5 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

PSA:  there is still one more day to catch Midnight Mary on Watch TCM.  It's a pre-code trifle with Loretta Young.  Has weak plot.  However, worth tuning in for Loretta's beaded hat.  This is a serious comment.  It's amazing to see if you appreciate costumes.  

[EtheltoTillie]

On 8/3/2024 at 4:01 PM, Rinaldo said:

I just finished watching (rewatching, I guess, but after 23 years...) the TV The Letter with Lee Remick et al. It's good. The overall hypocrisy and colonialist smugness, which is an integral part of this story, is given its weight without being overdone, and all the actors do their part to bring the story to effective life. Of course it doesn't replace the ones with Eagels or Davis, but it doesn't have to; we can keep and enjoy them all.

Apparently it's been widely recognized how good a dramatic vehicle Maugham's story is, as it's been filmed much more often than I'd realized. Besides the 3 versions we already discussed, movies were made in 1930-31 in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, and much later another in Russian. And in the days of dramatic anthology series on TV, episodes were devoted to adaptations starring Madeleine Carroll, Sylvia Sidney, Siobhan McKenna (this one directed by William Wyler who did the 1940 film), Celia Johnson, Dulcie Gray, and Eileen Atkins. Plus, there's a musical and an opera. 

I finally watched all the variations.  Here are my thoughts in no particular order:

In this version, I thought the story did not need the extensive flashbacks.  Lee Remick seemed too American/modern.  I was drifting off--I got the feeling that they were implying she also had some background affair with the lawyer, but am I just making that up?  Is this part of why he chooses to help her by suborning perjury?  The end implied she will be killed as she walks off, but not explicit like the BD version with Chekhov's knife.  Appreciated they were using the Steiner music. 

Jeanne Eagels version:  amazed that Herbert Marshall played the lover when he later played the stodgy dupe husband!  Given that, I appreciated the brief flashback.  Jeanne Eagels was great, but she was definitely giving twitchy drug addict vibes at times--sad.  Leslie does not get killed at the end.  Still a great ending.

1956 TV version:  Siobhan Mckenna was good, but she seemed to be imitating the BD performance.  I guess no surprise since Wyler directed.  But no Steiner music.  Also, she is not killed at the end in this version.

I have now skimmed the short story.  I kept wondering why Leslie did not worry about the letter before giving her attempted rape story.  The short story actually explains this:  she knew that Geoff always destroyed her letters, so she wasn't worried about that, but she was fooled.

The BD version has the best version of the lawyer character.  As a lawyer, I appreciated the deep self-loathing he felt about his violation of his professional responsibility.  He would not live well with that secret.  This was best illuminated by Stephenson of all the versions. 

 

Edited August 6 by EtheltoTillie

[Milburn Stone]

@Tom Holmberg, that alternate TCM schedule is incredibly helpful. Thank you.

I would love a Thelma Ritter Day. I wonder if why it hasn't happened is TCM maintaining too rigid a definition of "star." I suppose her name has never appeared above a movie's title. (If it ever did, I'd love to know it.) But she brought more pleasure in more movies than 98% of all "stars." Maybe TCM needs to declare January "Winter Under the Character Actors."

[Wiendish Fitch]

21 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

@Charlie Baker I have another oddball film to recommend.  Circle your calendars for Jeanne Crain Day!  I love Jeanne Crain.  This time they're showing the very difficult-to-find Margie.  This is unavailable for purchase on DVD or digital.  Maybe because of the potentially inappropriate content in the vein of The Major and the Minor (IYKYK).  I love both movies for what it's worth.  I have seen replays of Margie on YouTube.) 

Margie is a neat little movie, I never understood why it's never gotten a proper home release. If one can handle The Major and the Minor (a movie I love), then one can handle Margie. I do adore this exchange:

Margie: I wish I was dead!

Margie's grandma: "Were dead".

21 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Anyway, I can't wait to hear what you others will say about Margie.  Margie is a great feminist heroine.  Also, JC does her own ice skating.  Apparently she was a figure skating competitor.

No kidding? Wow!

3 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

I would love a Thelma Ritter Day. I wonder if why it hasn't happened is TCM maintaining too rigid a definition of "star." I suppose her name has never appeared above a movie's title. (If it ever did, I'd love to know it.) But she brought more pleasure in more movies than 98% of all "stars." Maybe TCM needs to declare January "Winter Under the Character Actors."

Heck, Thelma Ritter is absolutely a star in my book, and always will be.

[Rinaldo]

11 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

I would love a Thelma Ritter Day. I wonder if why it hasn't happened is TCM maintaining too rigid a definition of "star."

It did happen, so one needn't speculate. Here's an Osborne intro from 2014 for The Mating Season.

I think several of their "stars" over the years have not been headliners. We've had the likes of John Carradine, Katy Jurado, S.Z. Sakall, just from a quick search. That's not to say I wouldn't love to have a Thelma Ritter Day again soon, because I would. Almost everyone seems to love her when they discover her; one of my pastimes is watching YouTube reactors discover certain old movies, and it's a certainty in Rear Window that they'll flip for her. (The only problem is that, as usual, the actor gets credit for the writer's lines.)

[EtheltoTillie]

@Wiendish Fitch, I'm so excited I found one member of the Margie/Major and the Minor  Fan Club. 

Edited August 6 by EtheltoTillie