TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Padma]

Great opportunity at 4 pm. EST Thursday to see "Executive Action". It was the very gutsy, ahead-of-its time, 1973 film about the Kennedy assassination.  With a script by Dalton Trumbo, Mark Lane, and Donald Freed, and directed by David Miller. It was Robert Ryan's last film and he, Will Geer, and Burt Lancaster (who I think largely funded it) all took minimal salary to help it get made on a shoestring budget.

It shows in documentary style a theory that right wing intelligence agents, southern oil interests and ambitious politicians conspired in the assassination of President Kennedy. With very little budget it puts forth a compelling case but got very bad reviews as the overwhelming mainstream view at the time was to support the Warren Commission.

Lancaster et al even published a newspaper summarizing some of the evidence against the "lone nut gunman" idea and passed out copies to all attendees at every showing.  Really ahead of its time and, though limited by a small budget and many script excissions,  in some ways, imo,  "Executive Action" is better than "JFK".

Edited November 3, 2016 by Padma

[SeanC]

Tennessee Johnson, which aired a few nights ago and which I recorded on my DVR to watch last night, is really fascinating to look at now.  Not that it's a great or even good film -- it would be a hokey, mediocre biopic, if not for the fact that it's a hagiography of Andrew Johnson, nowadays considered one of America's worst presidents.  It was released in 1942, at the peak of Johnson's historical reputation, and celebrates his defense of white Southerners in the aftermath of the Civil War, which purportedly led to equality and justice for all.  A film that obviously could only be made by people entirely unconcerned with Jim Crow.

It makes for a fascinating contrast with Lincoln, since Thaddeus Stevens, played by Tommy Lee Jones in the Spielberg film, is the main villain of Tennessee Johnson.  In real life, Stevens, the leader of the Radical Republicans in the House, was the prime mover behind Johnson's impeachment, so if Johnson is a hero he must be a villain (he's even played by Lionel Barrymore).  There are some similarities between the two films' portrayals, in that they consider Stevens to be sincere but overzealously inflexible in his cause.  However, the films have very different attitudes towards those principles.  The audience in 1942 is meant to be horrified when he starts talking about expropriating the old Southern plantations and distributing 40 acres and a mule to all freedmen ("making slaves of the white", as Johnson puts it).

[bluepiano]

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on TCM yesterday. I know that Marilyn's Lorelei Lee is supposed to be her iconic role, but I always think that Jane Russell steals the movie. Her "Is There Anybody Here for Love" number with 'the Olympic team' is such a hoot, and her impersonation of Lorelei in the court room scene is hilarious. (and what an outfit).

The whole movie is great silly fun, full of clever and catchy songs.

Olympic athlete: "I'm the only four letter man on the team."
Lorelei: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Edited November 4, 2016 by bluepiano

[Rinaldo]

58 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on TCM yesterday.

This suggests a couple of tangential matters for those who enjoy the movie, for which I hope I may be indulged. 

First, the stage show from which it's adapted has a much longer score (without the interpolations by other hands, of course) and a rather different plot. It got its first complete recording a couple of years ago, following an excellent "Encores!" presentation. The recording is equally fine, with Megan Hilty and Rachel York splendid in the two leading roles.

Second, tonight's episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will include as one of its songs (they do at least two original ones each week) a production number parodying Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." It's about triangles.

[elle]

8 hours ago, bluepiano said:

and her impersonation of Lorelei in the court room scene is hilarious. (and what an outfit).

With a lead in by a great line delivery....

Lorelei: What are you going to do?

Dorothy: You're not the only one with hidden talents!

Edited November 5, 2016 by elle

[Padma]

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 9:13 AM, bluepiano said:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on TCM yesterday. I know that Marilyn's Lorelei Lee is supposed to be her iconic role, but I always think that Jane Russell steals the movie. Her "Is There Anybody Here for Love" number with 'the Olympic team' is such a hoot, and her impersonation of Lorelei in the court room scene is hilarious. (and what an outfit).

The whole movie is great silly fun, full of clever and catchy songs.

Olympic athlete: "I'm the only four letter man on the team."
Lorelei: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

There are a lot of male "buddy" films, but this may be my favorite women's one. Jane Russell is excellent throughout and is as much fun as Lorelei is. She definitely holds her own (and in a nice twist, is the one who has the real romance and gets the good-looking guy), but for me, Marilyn's just incredible in it. She manages to keep golddigging blonde bombshell Lorelei Lee always in character but still somehow keep her so sweet and likeable and funny. Even smart.

And she sells everthing she's asked to do--singing, dancing, acting, comedy, whether playing opposite an ugly old married millionaire or a rich little kid. Plus she can deliver lines like the one below with a perfect mix of cunning shrewdness and disarming frankness. I admire how Marilyn shows that Lorelei is an operator who's been around the block (a few dozen times) and yet  still somehow has an innocent charm and sweetness and is, underneath the scheming and manipulations, kind of honest and likeable and intelligent.

Fiance's father:  "Do you mean to tell me that you're not marrying my son for his money?"
Lorelei:  "No. I'm marrying him for your money!"

Hard to picture any other actress being as good in the part, at least for the film.

Edited November 5, 2016 by Padma

[Milburn Stone]

19 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

...the stage show from which it's adapted has a much longer score (without the interpolations by other hands, of course) and a rather different plot.

For years, I "held this against" the movie, because I generally hate when movies bastardize stage musicals that way.

But then, with this movie, something eventually clicked and I realized, "Forget the friggin' stage musical, will ya? Treat this movie like that show never existed. Look at it like it's an original Howard Hawks comedy with songs." And I started loving it.

[Padma]

3 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

For years, I "held this against" the movie, because I generally hate when movies bastardize stage musicals that way.

But then, with this movie, something eventually clicked and I realized, "Forget the friggin' stage musical, will ya? Treat this movie like that show never existed. Look at it like it's an original Howard Hawks comedy with songs." And I started loving it.

Plus the "with songs" part meant we got a pretty nice two-fer (four-fer) for the movie, Jule Styne and Leo Robin for the ones from the stage and the new ones for the film by Hoagy Carmichael & Harold Adamson.

[ratgirlagogo]

22 hours ago, Padma said:

There are a lot of male "buddy" films, but this may be my favorite women's one

It is mine without any qualifications.  One of the great feminist films of all time.  If any of you should care to read the book it's based on (and you should - also you should read Anita Loos' autobiography A Girl Like I) it's interesting that Lorelei is really a monster in the novel - but by the time the play/musical play/film of the musical play came around - IMO Anita Loos had been around Hollywood long enough to understand how Nobody Really Gives A Damn About This Year's Girl and these later versions of the story are sympathetic to Lorelei. Look how every man in the film will do absolutely ANYTHING for Lorelei - except inconvenience himself.  Jerks.  But more importantly - the friendship between Dorothy and Lorelei is the whole damned movie.  How's about that final wedding scene - where the camera zeros in on Dorothy and Lorelei walking down the aisle together - and then pulls out to show, oh yeah, those guys they're "marrying."  Like any guy could come between a friendship like that.  

[voiceover]

I know, I know; I'm a "favorite line" fiend.  But this exchange...

Lorelei: "You must think that I was born yesterday!"

Dorothy: "...sometimes there's no other possible explanation."

I have also been known to drop: "Pray, scat!" into a bar convo.  Or seven.

[SeanC]

My reaction on seeing that Love in the Afternoon was programmed.  "Oh, a Billy Wilder film with Audrey Hepburn in the lead; I wanted to like Sabrina, but Humphrey Bogart was just too old for her.  Maybe this will be better, her love interest is...Gary Cooper?  Damnit, Billy."

[aradia22]

I need to get back into TCM. Maybe when the world calms down. I've been having trouble focusing on anything but light TV and podcasts lately. Though I have Dancing Lady on the DVR and periodically watch that scene in the gym when I need cheering up.

[HelenBaby]

18 hours ago, SeanC said:

My reaction on seeing that Love in the Afternoon was programmed.  "Oh, a Billy Wilder film with Audrey Hepburn in the lead; I wanted to like Sabrina, but Humphrey Bogart was just too old for her.  Maybe this will be better, her love interest is...Gary Cooper?  Damnit, Billy."

I don't think Audrey had a leading man close to her age until Albert Finney in Two for the Road, and she was older than him in real life.

[Athena]

1 hour ago, HelenBaby said:

I don't think Audrey had a leading man close to her age until Albert Finney in Two for the Road, and she was older than him in real life.

Surprisingly, it happened earlier in Breakfast at Tiffany's. George Peppard was only a year older than Audrey.

I still like Sabrina, Funny Face, and Love in the Afternoon for Audrey and the direction alone, but not necessarily the wide age difference between her and her costars. I think her and Gregory Peck had good chemistry in Roman Holiday even though he was older than her, but not as much as Astaire, Bogart, or Cooper.

I love Charade though and think she and Cary Grant had great chemistry.

[SeanC]

18 minutes ago, Athena said:

Surprisingly, it happened earlier in Breakfast at Tiffany's. George Peppard was only a year older than Audrey.

Also, James Garner in The Children's Hour.

Quote

I think her and Gregory Peck had good chemistry in Roman Holiday even though he was older than her, but not as much as Astaire, Bogart, or Cooper.

Peck was older, but still in his movie star prime, so I tend to rate him as within the standard range; same with William Holden, who was a secondary love interest in Sabrina and later the leading man with her in Paris When It Sizzles.

Quote

I love Charade though and think she and Cary Grant had great chemistry.

The irony is that Grant turned down the male lead roles in both Sabrina and Love in the Afternoon, supposedly because he thought he would look like a creep romancing Hepburn, and only agreed to do Charade after the role was rewritten to have Hepburn's character pursuing him.  Grant would have been a much better choice than Bogart or Cooper for those roles.

Edited November 7, 2016 by SeanC

[Padma]

37 minutes ago, Athena said:

Surprisingly, it happened earlier in Breakfast at Tiffany's. George Peppard was only a year older than Audrey.

Yes, but Buddy Ebsen was her husband.

For some reason, for me, Grant and even Astaire (who looked old even when young) worked better with the age difference than Cooper and Bogart.  Maybe because the men are active and have jobs and are even humorous which all makes them seem younger than humorless Cooper and Bogart.  Both movies really failed for me because of casting them. And funny that wilder wanted Grant both times, but said that, unlike for example Maurice Chevalier who was thrilled to be asked, Grant had "specific ideas" about his parts and didn't want, per Wilder, to be in his films.  Too bad as I think he would have made both films work so much better.

Cooper was just too old (or looked too old at 57) and was so often photographed in shadow, making it worse . Also, it bothered me that Ariane kept calling him "Mr. Flanagan" all the way to the end.  And the final part where he puts her on the berth in the train and tells her to "be quiet" just played out for me as kind of creepy.  Hepburn and Chevalier do everything possible to make it work and it's I.A.L. Diamond and Wilder's first script together, but still... to me, it's almost unwatchable because of the casting.

Wilder also objected to the tag they added on the American version of "Love", the part about the two getting married and living in New York. Apparently in Europe it did a lot better with critics and audiences--and with that part left out.

[bmoore4026]

We've had nothing but political movies today.  We're going to be having political documentaries tonight.  I want politics to go away.  Far, far away.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow;  I'm writing this in a sort of stupor. 

How could you, TCM?

[Athena]

1 hour ago, Padma said:

For some reason, for me, Grant and even Astaire (who looked old even when young) worked better with the age difference than Cooper and Bogart.  Maybe because the men are active and have jobs and are even humorous which all makes them seem younger than humorless Cooper and Bogart.

I agree with this. It also works better in Grant's case because Audrey was not really an ingenue anymore in the 1960s. The character was a woman who was widowed and had experienced life. The movie was seven years after Love and nine after Sabrina.

Definitely agree that Cooper and Bogart were dour characters and shot that way. I have a lot of affection for Astaire too. Though having watched Ginger & Fred movies in the 1930s and 20 years later in Funny Face, I did notice how he had aged.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Grant and Astaire both had a liveliness and vitality that helped them pull off May/December romances much better than, say, the aforementioned Gary Cooper, or James Stewart (as much as I adore Vertigo, Stewart looks like Kim Novak's grandfather in some shots). I also want to throw Gene Kelly's name on the list; it's easy to forget he was 19 years older than Leslie Caron in An American in Paris and 20 years older than Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain! 

In Cooper's defense, however, he was able to pull off the age difference from Grace Kelly in High Noon, mostly because it makes sense that the character of Amy would choose an older man for her husband, and they're fairly equal in terms of maturity. 

[SeanC]

I recall reading a review of Gabriel Over the White House some years ago, but actually seeing it on TCM was unexpected.  That movie is completely insane; I had to imagine that if Donald Trump was tuning in, he was nodding in approval as Walter Huston transformed the presidency into a benevolent dictatorship.

[Rinaldo]

7 hours ago, HelenBaby said:

I don't think Audrey had a leading man close to her age until Albert Finney in Two for the Road, and she was older than him in real life.

Older by just 7 years, though Pauline Kael (not in The New Yorker) thought that the gap seemed larger to the viewer because Hepburn had been familiar in movies so much earlier than Finney had. I can't say that I've ever seen it that way, though; they seem just fine together to me. And they both have to play a wide range of ages in it (neither is all that convincing as a teenager), so it all evens out. In any case, Two for the Road is one of my all-time favorites -- partly, I admit, because I'm a sucker for an ingenious structural premise. Which brings me to...

5 hours ago, SeanC said:

William Holden, who was a secondary love interest in Sabrina and later the leading man with her in Paris When It Sizzles.

I so want Paris When It Sizzles to be wonderful, because it has a premise I find irresistible: screenwriters hard at work, and we see each of their new ideas acted out. It derives from the French film Holiday for Henrietta, which I keep reading about but have never seen. Another adaptation of Holiday for Henrietta is the William Goldman / Stephen Sondheim musical film collaboration Singing Out Loud, which was never made but for which eight numbers were completed. I hope they get recorded (or better yet, video'd) someday.

But Paris When It Sizzles just doesn't come to life, despite that premise and the attractive talent involved. It's seldom mentioned among the classic Hepburn films of the 1960s, and with good reason. Too bad.

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

But Paris When It Sizzles just doesn't come to life, despite that premise and the attractive talent involved. It's seldom mentioned among the classic Hepburn films of the 1960s, and with good reason. Too bad.

I've never seen it, yet there's one thing about it I like a lot, because it relies on the ears rather than the eyes: namely, the score by Nelson Riddle. A cut from the soundtrack recording appeared years ago on a CD compilation of music from Audrey Hepburn movies; if memory serves, the whole soundtrack LP is being reissued soon by Kritzerland. It's up there with Mancini, a composer whose success Riddle was envious of. I feel bad for Nelson that Paris When It Sizzles didn't make more of a noise.

[Rinaldo]

10 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

 It's up there with Mancini, a composer whose success Riddle was envious of. 

I guess everybody's always envious of the next person up in the pecking order. Certainly the 1960s were a time when Mancini's name exploded. But Riddle himself had remarkable success then too -- but as an arranger, not a composer. He was probably the only arranger whose name the general public knew about, as he had supplied the gorgeous backgrounds for countless Sinatra recordings (which remained very much a big thing throughout the decade), and people noticed and wanted to know who was responsible. So he had about the best recognition someone in that position could wish for... really more than he would have had from a movie soundtrack. But the latter used him as composer, a crucial distinction. Much the same thing happened in that era with Percy Faith, who did compose film soundtracks, but remained famous only as an arranger of other people's music.

[Milburn Stone]

14 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I guess everybody's always envious of the next person up in the pecking order. Certainly the 1960s were a time when Mancini's name exploded. But Riddle himself had remarkable success then too -- but as an arranger, not a composer. He was probably the only arranger whose name the general public knew about, as he had supplied the gorgeous backgrounds for countless Sinatra recordings (which remained very much a big thing throughout the decade), and people noticed and wanted to know who was responsible. So he had about the best recognition someone in that position could wish for... really more than he would have had from a movie soundtrack. But the latter used him as composer, a crucial distinction. Much the same thing happened in that era with Percy Faith, who did compose film soundtracks, but remained famous only as an arranger of other people's music.

And Riddle was famous enough--as an arranger--that he could share a cover photograph with Ella Fitzgerald on Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson. The two of them pose together on the LP, with equal weight given to each of them. That sort of 50/50 shared billing happened with no other singer's arranger that I can think of.

But yes, Mancini's success drove Riddle crazy.

Here's Riddle's composition for Paris When It Sizzles (known as "Gabrielle's Theme"). The images aren't from the movie, but the music is. I think it makes the point that Riddle--when at his best as a composer--could hold his own with any composer of light music:

Edited November 9, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[voiceover]

Aughhh...

Here's one of my standard TCM gripes: Why do they persist in airing my favorites in the middle of the night, when I have to be at work in 7 hours??

The latest offense: tonight's Room with a View.  One of the most perfectly cast/best art-directed/fabulously spoken ("Women like a view!") pictures ever.  And certainly one of the 4 I would curate as Guest Programmer for my "Italian Days" evening with Robert.

ETA: and the kiss in the field!!  *insta-swoon*

Edited November 11, 2016 by voiceover
How could I forget Teh Smooch?

[magicdog]

Quote

[Steve] Allen had a very inflated idea of himself as a pianist/composer, and was outspoken about his disdain for rock'n'roll. 

To be fair, R&R was derided by most people over 30 at that time.  I do remember he read the lyrics to Gene Vincent's, "Be Bop A Lula" like a storybook (with nursery type music to boot!).  I thought it was quite funny.

 

On 10/31/2016 at 1:48 PM, prican58 said:

Damn!  I used to be so scared of him when he did his show. He was also a radio DJ in the 70's, I think. He was on channel 11 doing the Chiller Theater gig.  

I remember him too!  I didn't realize he was 98!!  Wow!!

[mariah23]

Another one to add to TCM Remembers: Robert Vaughn has died at the age of 83.

[prican58]

Napoleon Solo cried U.N.C.L.E.  Seriously, sad news. I really liked him in "The Young Philadelphians".  He could really play a bad guy. 

[Crisopera]

For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Narrow Margin (1952), which is on TCM this Sunday night at 9PM.  It is one of the absolutely best thrillers ever made.  A great, mostly unremembered cast (Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor) plays it absolutely beautifully.  It's about a detective who has to escort the widow of a mobster to testify in Chicago on a cross-country train.  It packs an incredible amount of tension and suspense into 71 minutes.  Great stuff.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Crisopera

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, prican58 said:

Napoleon Solo cried U.N.C.L.E.  Seriously, sad news. I really liked him in "The Young Philadelphians".  He could really play a bad guy. 

He played a bad guy to a fare-thee-well in Bullitt, too. It's been years since I've seen it, but I recall that you could tell he was up to no good from the very beginning, yet the way he got across his up-to-no-goodness was so interesting that the absence of surprise was irrelevant.

[ratgirlagogo]

4 hours ago, Crisopera said:

 

For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Narrow Margin (1952), which is on TCM this Sunday night at 9PM.  It is one of the absolutely best thrillers ever made.

 

Yes, a great film, big favorite around Casa Rat.  With a huge surprise twist you will NOT see coming.  Great performances all round.  A classic film indeed.

Edited November 12, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[voiceover]

3 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

A classic film indeed.

Redone (referred to as "loosely based") in 1990 with Gene Hackman & Anne Archer, though I favor the original (surprise!)

Edited November 13, 2016 by voiceover
Qualifiers

[bluepiano]

On ‎11‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 10:05 AM, Milburn Stone said:

He played a bad guy to a fare-thee-well in Bullitt, too.

And was also one of the Magnificent Seven, though as a particularly grim gunfighter, he didn't have too many lines. He was also a really smart guy who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Hollywood blacklist, and was a close friend and supporter of Bobby Kennedy. And thanks to the New York Times editorial, I just learned that he was a paid spokesman (with royalties) for the Helsinki Formula baldness cure, which he said was the most profitable thing he ever did.

On ‎11‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 8:44 AM, Crisopera said:

For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Narrow Margin (1952), which is on TCM this Sunday night at 9PM.  It is one of the absolutely best thrillers ever made.  

Agreed. A great example of what talented filmmakers can accomplish even with a small budget and tight schedule. TCM has a clip of director Richard Fleischer talking about how they used the recording of the train sounds on the soundtrack to sustain tension. If you watch the movie you'll see what he means. (Trivia alert: Fleischer was the son of groundbreaking animator Max Fleischer).

[Rinaldo]

On 11/12/2016 at 11:44 AM, Crisopera said:

For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Narrow Margin (1952), which is on TCM this Sunday night at 9PM.  It is one of the absolutely best thrillers ever made.  A great, mostly unremembered cast (Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor) plays it absolutely beautifully.  It's about a detective who has to escort the widow of a mobster to testify in Chicago on a cross-country train.  It packs an incredible amount of tension and suspense into 71 minutes.  Great stuff.

Thanks so much for the recommendation! I hadn't heard of the title and would undoubtedly have skipped it, and it's everything you said. Besides director Richard Fleischer, whom I vaguely knew of as a good-not-great commercial filmmaker, and Marie Windsor (whom I saw a couple of times in her late TV guest appearances, like Lou Grant and Murder, She Wrote), all the names were new to me, and they all did a bang-up job. And all in a taut 71 minutes, and without a background score (the only music heard is heard by the characters). Now I too will be an evangelist for it.

[AliShibaz]

On 2016-11-12 at 11:44 AM, Crisopera said:

For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend The Narrow Margin (1952), which is on TCM this Sunday night at 9PM.  It is one of the absolutely best thrillers ever made.  A great, mostly unremembered cast (Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor) plays it absolutely beautifully.  It's about a detective who has to escort the widow of a mobster to testify in Chicago on a cross-country train.  It packs an incredible amount of tension and suspense into 71 minutes.  Great stuff.

I recall another similar B&W film. It was about a female witness that had to be guarded in a hotel room.

I'm almost certain it was not The Narrow Margin because the witness is on a moving train and in this other film, the witness was locked up in a hotel room.

I hope I haven't gotten this wrong. But would anyone know what film I might be thinking of? It was made around 1950.

I'm starting to remember a little more. One of the females in the story (possibly the witness) had been wronged by some thug and she was going to be a witness against him and he threw acid in her face and terribly disfigured her.

I hope that info is correct and that someone may remember the name of this film. It's not "A Woman's Face (1941)". Many thanks.

P.S. I don't know if this will be considered off topic, but after reading a few pages of this thread, I'd like to see TCM broadcast a B&W Film Noire called "The Dark Corner (1946)". It stars Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb & William Bendix. I'd like to recommend this film to you all because Lucille Ball plays a dramatic role and she is really good - nothing at all like her "I Love Lucy" character.  If you ever see this film, I'm certain you will be pleasantly surprised by her performance. I enjoyed this film very much. Very much out of line for this kind of B picture. It was truly enjoyable.

I hope a mod will let me know if it's OK for me to post some more recommendations of B&W film noire type films in this thread. I have quite a few I'd like to recommend. If it's "off topic", I'd appreciate if someone could point me to an appropriate thread and I'll post them there or I will start a new thread titled "B&W films Recommendations". If anyone has an idea of some better title for that thread, I'd be glad to create that thread instead. Maybe it would be better to limit the thread to "Film Noire" type films? Or maybe it would be better not to restrict it to only B&W films. Also, if there is an existing thread somewhere that is similar to this idea, I'd be happy to post some reccos into that thread if someone will point me to it.

Edited November 15, 2016 by AliShibaz

[Crisopera]

AliShibaz, I'm pretty sure you're talking about The Big Heat (1953), directed by Fritz Lang and starring Gloria Grahame as the moll who gets disfigured.  She gets her revenge on the thug (played by Lee Marvin) in a genuinely scary scene.  Terrific movie.  (If it's the right one, the male lead is Glenn Ford.)

Edited November 15, 2016 by Crisopera

[AliShibaz]

31 minutes ago, Crisopera said:

AliShibaz, I'm pretty sure you're talking about The Big Heat (1953), directed by Fritz Lang and starring Gloria Grahame as the moll who gets disfigured.  She gets her revenge on the thug (played by Lee Marvin) in a genuinely scary scene.  Terrific movie.  (If it's the right one, the male lead is Glenn Ford.)

Oh yes! I immediately recognized that plot. I'm certain you are correct. Thank you ever so much!

[SeanC]

Design for Living surely has to be one of the most progressive movies ever made in terms of gender politics, relative to its time of release (hell, any number of films or TV series made today don't accord the female lead that level of romantic/sexual agency).

[AliShibaz]

15 hours ago, AliShibaz said:

Sorry. I don't know how I wound up quoting myself. This is the second time this has happened and I'm almost certain I clicked the "Edit" button and no the "Quote" button.

Edited November 16, 2016 by AliShibaz

[bluepiano]

11 hours ago, AliShibaz said:

Oh yes! I immediately recognized that plot. I'm certain you are correct. Thank you ever so much!

Though it was scalding hot coffee Lee Marvin threw in her face, not acid.

At first I thought you were talking about a little known movie called Tight Spot from 1955, in which Brian Keith and Edward G.  Robinson are cops who have to guard Ginger Rogers in a hotel room. She's a former party girl waiting to testify against a mobster ex- boyfriend. Like Narrow Margin, it takes on the challenge of having almost the entire movie take place  in a confined space, in this case a hotel room. And like Narrow Margin, it still manages to sustain your interest.

That's the kind of challenge I can't see any current director take on. With rare exceptions, today's "suspense" movies are mostly just a series of big action scenes, with lots of CG aided exploding buildings, cars hurtling through space  etc.

Of course if you talk about shooting a movie in a confined space, the all-time champion is Hitchcock's Lifeboat.

Edited November 16, 2016 by bluepiano

[AliShibaz]

I don't know if this will be considered off topic, but after reading a few pages of this thread, I'd like to see TCM broadcast a B&W Film Noire called "The Dark Corner (1946)". It stars Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb & William Bendix. I'd like to recommend this film to you all because Lucille Ball plays a dramatic role and she is really good - nothing at all like her "I Love Lucy" character.  If you ever see this film, I'm certain you will be pleasantly surprised by her performance. I enjoyed this film very much. Very much out of line for this kind of B picture. Truly enjoyable.

I hope someone can tell me if it's OK for me to post some more recommendations of B&W film noire type films in this thread. I have quite a few I'd like to recommend. If it's "off topic", I'd appreciate if someone could point me to an appropriate thread and I'll post them there or I will start a new thread titled "B&W films Recommendations". If anyone has an idea of some better title for that thread, I'd be glad to create that thread instead. Maybe it would be better to limit the thread to "Film Noire" type films? Or maybe it would be better not to restrict it to only B&W films. Also, if there is an existing thread somewhere that is similar to this idea, I'd be happy to post some reccos into that thread if someone will point me to it.

Edited November 16, 2016 by AliShibaz

[voiceover]

Hey out there, fellow TCMers!

I think of this thread as a little family:  Lots of regulars who share classics movie love, fill in the gaps when requested, and agree to disagree when necessary.

I had an idea; a little something to fuss over when the network schedule isn't provoking maximum discussion (eh, even when it is).  

I have the moderator's (Athena) permission to curate a weekly activity in the thread.  This is obviously completely voluntary, but I hope as many of you as possible join in.

Every Monday, a different poster will...uh...post...a "Top Five" about classic films.  They will start the week with their topic choice, then all of us can chime in with our version of their five.  Then come the next Monday: new list.

I am going to kick this off by posting a "sign-up list" -- quote & repost by adding your name and, if you know your choice & want to reveal it, your topic.

Sunday I'll message the next person on the list a reminder to post their Top 5 that Monday.  After they do (say, "Top 5 Paint Colors in a Myrna Loy Movie"), jump in to post YOUR Top 5 Myrna Loy Paint Colors.

Since we can't pin the post, I'll start off the list.  And since it was my idea, I'll go first next Monday, as much to demonstrate how I see this being formatted as anything else.

Even though some of your favorites won't surprise me (& vice versa), I look forward to learning more about my TCM/PTV family!

Suggestions, questions, complaints? Message me or Athena.  Note: this should not be construed as me trying to take over this thread! I'm just sharing my love of lists with the rest of you.

[voiceover]

Top Five Poster of the Week:

1. voiceover (favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

(& keep going...)

[bmoore4026]

Well, tonight they're showing Woodstock for Wednesday Documentary Month.  Goes from 11:45 PM Central to 3 am Central.  I've never seen the whole thing in full.  I'm going to try tonight.  Wish me luck.

[Crisopera]

9 hours ago, voiceover said:

Top Five Poster of the Week:

1. voiceover (favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2.Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films - I yield musicals to Rinaldo)

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

(& keep going...)

Edited November 17, 2016 by Crisopera

[Rinaldo]

9 hours ago, voiceover said:

Top Five Poster of the Week:

1. voiceover (Favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2. Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3. Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

(& keep going...)

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/15/2016 at 9:37 PM, SeanC said:

Design for Living surely has to be one of the most progressive movies ever made in terms of gender politics, relative to its time of release (hell, any number of films or TV series made today don't accord the female lead that level of romantic/sexual agency).

At first I imagined you were talking about Designing Woman (Lauren Bacall, Gregory Peck, Dolores Gray, Jack Cole, dir. Vincente Minnelli), which also was pretty darned progressive in terms of gender politics for its time. And very funny.

[Sharpie66]

2 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

12 hours ago, voiceover said:

Top Five Poster of the Week:

1. voiceover (Favorite films: Silents -- 1980)

2. Crisopera (Favorite Barbara Stanwyck films)

3. Rinaldo (Favorite pre-1949 musical films)

4. Sharpie66 (Favorite villains in pre-1950 films)

5.

6.

7.

8.

(& keep going...)

[Milburn Stone]

Can I ask a question about this list thing (based on my totally not understanding it)? So, if I wish, I'm supposed to add my name to the list and say what my favorite movie genre/trope/character is? (That's what it looks like, but then why is it called Top Five Poster of the Week, which has nothing to do with that?)

Edited November 17, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[voiceover]

41 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

Can I ask a question about this list thing (based on my totally not understanding it)? So, if I wish, I'm supposed to add my name to the list and say what my favorite movie genre/trope/character is? (That's what it looks like, but then why is it called Top Five Poster of the Week, which has nothing to do with that?)

The list represents poster name, order, and -- if you wish -- the name of the Top 5 list you want to present.  Every Monday, the next person on the list posts their Top 5 for the week, and everyone is invited to do the same on that week for that poster's topic.

Example:  The first "Five" will be the one I post on Monday the 21st (favorite movies pre-1980). Next week, anyone who wants to post their 5 favorite movies pre-1980 can do so.

The next Monday, crisopera will post the Stanwyck 5, and everyone who wants to also post a Stanwyck 5, will follow suit.

Hope this helps!