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The actress Barbara Shelley, who became a longtime queen of British horror movies, died last week at the age of 88. Although she had been a recent COVID-19 victim, her agent, Thomas Bowington, said she had "underlying issues." She died on January 4 -- one month before her birthday on February 13. Although she would become a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s, Shelley became a ubiquitous leading lady in Hammer Films during the 1950s and 1960s. Among her pictures for the company: "The Camp on Blood Island" (1958), "The Shadow of the Cat" (1961), "The Gorgon" (1964), "The Secret of Blood Island" (1964), "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (pictured below) and" Rasputin, the Mad Monk" (1966). "There is a great thrill for me in having done Hammer and being known," she said. "All the other things I did, nobody remembers those. But the horror films, I'm very grateful to them.” In the 1960 British-American sci-fi classic "Village of the Damned," Shelley and George Sanders played the parents of an unearthly son (Martin Stephens). The boy was one of several children born on the same day to residents of the British village of Midwich . Shelley guest starred in "From Venus with Love," the Season 5 episode of the 1960s British TV series "The Avengers." It was the first show filmed in color and a part of the second season available to American television. In the episode, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Dame Diana Rigg) investigated the mysterious deaths of several amateur astronomers. Their search led to an astronomical society devoted to the planet Venus. The group was headed by Venus Brown (played by Shelley, pictured below with Rigg). Shelley co-starred with James Donald and Andrew Keir in "Quatermass and the Pit" (titled "Five Million Years from Earth" in the U.S.). The British-made sci-fi film was the third screen installment in the adventures of Professor Bernard Quatermass (Keir). The fictional scientist was played by Brian Donlevy in the films "The Quatermass Xperiment" (1955) and "Quatermass 2" (1957). This installment was based on TV's "The Quatermass Pit," and focused on an important discovery in London's subway system, known as the Underground. James Swanton @jamescswanton Barbara Shelley has died. She matched Christopher Lee's Dracula and Rasputin for blazing bravura. She became the cat girl and the Gorgon; fought the mad medicos of Wolfit and Cushing; inhabited a village of the damned and channelled the Martians. Our greatest horror actress. 4:47 AM · Jan 4, 2021·Twitter Web App Nicola Bryant @thenicolabryant So very sad to hear of the passing of #BarbaraShelley. A darling person and a talented actress. When we worked together on Planet of Fire she was so kind to me. She gave me a little owl, still in my possession and some good advice. #RIPBarbaraShelley Wise and wonderful lady. 6:39 AM · Jan 4, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Since Death on the Nile seems to be a topic of interest on this thread these days, here's a review I wrote a few years ago about Peter Ustinov's second big screen outing as Agatha Christie's Belgian detective. It seems more appropriate now with the death last year of one of the film's major participants, Diana Rigg. Evil Under The Sun (1982). Handsome adaption of the Agatha Christie novel, and the second of three big screen occasions in which Peter Ustinov would inhabit the role of master Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (forever informing people of the correct way to pronounce his last name). Once again there is a gathering of beautiful people in a remote location where a murder will occur (actually the second murder in the film) and there will be a final gathering of the suspects in which the brilliant Poirot will dissect the evidence, piece by piece, in order to reveal the killer. Directed by Guy Hamilton this film is a visual glory. Beautifully filmed in Majorca (where the rich and famous really do go to play in privacy) it is a film with a series of often exquisite cinematic images shot under brilliant sunshine, with the orchestral accompaniment of Cole Porter hits on its soundtrack making this vacation with mayhem experience an aural delight, as well. Ustinov has great fun in the role of the detective, who just happens to be vacationing on a mythical island in the Adriatic where the mystery is set. He has a pantomime bit in which he goes "swimming," dipping his legs only in the water while making swimming motions with his arms as he walks back and forth for his exercise. Clearly the actor is having a good time in his role. The cast includes Maggie Smith as the hotel proprietor, James Mason and Sylvia Miles as a Broadway producer and his wife, he badly in need of a hit, Diana Rigg as an egotistical theatrical star, Colin Blakely as her rich husband who stoically endures her shallow excesses, Jane Birkin and Nicholas Clay as a young couple squabbling about his infidelities, and Roddy McDowall as a gossipy leach ready to print a book about Rigg. I was disappointed that a wonderful actor like Mason has relatively little to do in this film but Rigg is a marvelous combination of style and beetchiness in her role. I loved every moment she was on the screen. One of the best scenes in the film is when Rigg decides to give everyone in the sitting room a thrill by singing "You're The Top" while old time chorus line competitor Maggie Smith does everything she can to upstage her. Absolutely delightful. While some might regard the story and mystery content of a Christie concoction such as this as slight, a film like this is all about wit, style and visual elegance. In that respect, Evil Under The Sun succeeds more than admirably. 3 out of 4 P.S.: One additional comment I might make is that Evil Under the Sun, at a 102 minute running time, is 38 minutes shorter than Death on the Nile, not over staying its welcome, which, unfortunately, I found to be the case with the earlier Poirot film, visually appealing as it may be.

1936

As much as I love many of the supporting characters in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (particularly marvelously insecure Rhoda, who I always thought, particularly with her self deprecating wit, was a real winner), the heart of the show are any of those scenes set in Lou Grant's office when Mary comes to him for advice. Those moments could be very very funny, but, on the occasion, touching too. Mary and Ed Asner had a remarkable chemistry in roles they were born to play. Who wouldn't want to have a Mary Richards or gruff, mushy at the core, Lou Grant in their lives?

Our third child star is DEAN STOCKWELL. He played Gregory Peck's son in GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947). Then he was THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948). And later he went on a CATTLE DRIVE (1951) with Joel McCrea.

(The) Tony Randall Show

Lana Turner in These Glamour Girls Laverne and Shirley ("Call Me a Taxi")

Garfield, John

I like Stockwell as a Mob Boss in Married to the Mob (funny film) and he was great on Quantum Leap. Gentleman's Agreement is a great film with a great cast (especially John Garfield).

Sweet Charity Michelle Pfeiffer sings Ten Cents a Dance in The Fabulous Baker Boys Cloris Leachman sang the above song as Phyllis Lindstrom

Personally, I liked Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express and the amazing cast (though felt Bergman's Oscar for Supporting Actress was really an I'm sorry). I didn't recognize Finney under all that makeup. I saw the Kenneth B. remake and thought it was dreadful. I think he just remade either Evil Under the Sun or Death on the Nile (one thing the pandemic has at least delayed that is a positive). Last night, I struggled through (before falling asleep) through The King of Staten Island (Pete Davidson of SNL fame). I really didn't see the comedy and, while I rooted for Davidson's character - which I think was based on his own life - I found many of the characters (including the mother and her boyfriend) someone offensive and without a compelling backstory. Please excuse typos.

Zanders, Zelda, played by Rita Moreno in "Singing in the Rain"

Sorry to come to this late...but I came across this on YT and thought the comments were perfection: It made me want to see this movie! I always notice when older charactors wear fashions of their youth vs fashions of the day, often age inappropriate. And the color & detail of costuming (& hair/make up) are astoundingly good-no wonder it won the costuming Oscar. I was amazed at the scene "on top" of the pyramid, but I gave up after PlutoTV interrupted several times with the same commercial! I understand similar ilk MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is a bit better.

1947

1 9 4 5 next : motel

Pillow Talk Next: Hotel

SCARFACE 1932

I watched it from start to finish this morning and though I have not seen all screen versions, this one would be hard to beat. Many scenes are visually stunning, especially the image of Ophelia floating across the screen, calmly and serenely, singing softly, to her death. Olivier made me laugh a few times with his "why whatever can you mean?" feigned innocence and mannerisms. And I did not know that the writers of The Addams Family tv show based their Ophelia on Jean Simmons' characterization, but even that knowledge did not distract from the poignance of her portrayal. I'm going to watch it again soon with the text in hand so I can keep up a little better.

Yes, it's nearly here -- TCM Programming Challenge #44. And, just to give you a bit more incentive, for the first time in a long time, prizes (TCM memorabilia, DVDs, books, etc.) will be awarded to ALL participants. If you've ever wanted to try doing a Programming Challenge, now's your chance. It's challenging, (no pun intended) tons of fun, and, if you have any questions at all, experienced TCM Programming Challengers will be available to lend a hand. The 44th TCM Programming Challenge begins Sunday, January 17th. Time To Get Classic!

Auberjonois, Rene

Gone too soon. Laura Nyro from her 1967 debut LP, More Than a New Discovery. "Hands Off The Man" was later retitled "Flim-Flam Man" and may or may not have been meant for the movie of that name. (Another musician who knew Laura said it was about her smooth-talking Uncle Gary.) With horns arranged by Herb Bernstein. I can't play it just once.

A few months ago, I watched all of the Up series, except for 63, in a couple of weeks. 63 Up was split up into multiple episodes. I was able to see the first one, but not the other two. The problem with watching these back to back is that a good amount of each of the succeeding episodes (14, 21, etc) is spent recapping their stories from previous installations. It wouldn't be so bad, but they often just reused the same recap footage over and over again (I suppose some of the previously unused footage is lost?), and it became rather tiresome sitting through Tony's story 7 or 8 times, seeing the same B roll over and over. I understand it's needed when you watched them as originally released, seven years apart, but it doesn't work as well when binge watching them. Agree 28 is heartbreaking. There was a behind-the-scenes interview for 63 where they speculated if this was the last one. I think most of the "kids" were ready to put it behind them (and I don't blame them a bit). But Apted would have done a 70 Up if he survived. I have to admit that I feel like I'm going to be missing the final few chapters of a book, though.

You have an unusual treat ahead of you, in being able to watch all the "Up" series in a relatively short period of time. For those of us who caught up with the series, waiting seven years for the next installment was part of the experience. I still haven't seen 63 Up, and look forward to that. As the series progresses, there's a "meta" element, as things happen to the participants because they are part of the documentary. Some choose not to participate, then come back later on. The "Seven Plus Seven" is gruesome, as fourteen is a bad age for just about everyone, and is also an age for bad haircuts. 28 Up is a masterpiece and the most emotionally wrenching, as we learn what happens to one of the children who was so adorable at age seven. Coal Miner's Daughter is a fine film for many of the same reasons that the Up series is great, as Apted has an unusual skill in creating the feeling for a particular time and place. It's strange indeed that one of the most authentic Southern films was made by a British director.

GENERAL SPANKY (1936)

I went up to IMDB today to check her filmography and it's longer than I would have thought. A few films obscure Universal films I'm going to see if I can find since, of course, we are unlikely to ever see on TCM. Some of the ones I'd be interested in include: Time Out of Mind, 1947 (Siodmak directed) The Web, 1947 and The Suspect , 1944 (also Siodmak.)

Elvis was eager to accept a straight dramatic role as Robert Mitchum's kid brother in THUNDER ROAD when Mitchum offered him the part. Unfortunately Col. Tom Parker demanded more money for him than was in the entire budget of the moonshine drama so Mitchum cast his own son, James, in the role instead. It would have been interesting to see how Presley might have fared as an actor. Keely Smith, who was pretty wooden as an actress, was hired to sing a song in the film. Fair chance it might have been Elvis singing it instead. I don't know that Elvis was ever offered any other acting roles that were not in conventional musical star vehicles tailor made for him. That might have been Elvis as on the left as the brother that Bob wanted to prevent from becoming a moonshine runner.

I noticed that as well; I think its a print from decades ago to be honest. The tip-off was right at the top with this Paramount logo. Death on the Nile was financed by EMI films and distributed through Paramount in 1978. But Paramount only had the theatrical distribution rights, not the lingering rights to the film. EMI kept those, and after they went out, their films ended up in the hands of Studio Canal which promptly removed the Paramount logo from all the prints of the film they had. This Paramount logo below appeared on the TCM print; it does not appear on the DVD version at all. So this print the other day is at least 20 years old.

What a happy coincidence! She's hilarious with Jack Lemmon in THE OUT OF TOWNERS.

late Sun., 1-10 for Silent Sundays.............. (times ET) 12:45 am Dumb Girl of Portici, The (1916) During the seventeenth century, the Duke levies another onerous tax on the workers, who be... Director Lois Weber Cast Anna Pavlova, Rupert Julian, Wadsworth Harris, ... 2:45 TCM Imports.......... am Dark Habits (1983) 1h 45m | Comedy | NR After her pusher boyfriend overdoses on heroin, a sexy drug addict and erstwhile cabaret s... Director Pedro Almodóvar Cast Cristina Sánchez Pascual, Will More, Laura Ceped... 4:45 am What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) 1h 40m | Comedy, Drama A suburban housewife, addicted to amphetamines, kills her husband and sells her son. ... Director Pedro Almodóvar Cast Carmen Maura, Angel Deandres Lopez, Veronica For...

John Reilly, General Hospital and Passions Vet, Dead at 86 Comedy director/editor Neil Mahoney (Key & Peele, Drunk History) has died

Lucy Next: Dixon, Summer and Douglas

Armendez, Demi - Ricardo Montalban in Two Weeks with Love

I liked Dean Stockwell in ANCHORS AWEIGH with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra and THE SECRET GARDEN with Margaret O'Brien. He had a good blend of cute, spoiled and precocious in his acting.

Reap the Wild Wind

Yokum, Li'l Abner - Peter Palmer in Li'l Abner

One more note , The Out of Towners was written by Neil Simon.

I had a 45rpm of Burning Love.

Hardboiled Rose (1929)

You Said a Mouthful (1932)

WEE WILLIE WINKIE (1937)

2021 Awards Season: When Are the Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes and More https://people.com/awards/2021-awards-season-calendar-show-dates/

THE NUN'S STORY (1959)

OUT OF THE PAST (1947)

Robert Vaughn as Napolian Solo in The Man From Uncle. Ian Fleming gave the show his blessing to use the name Solo, the name of a character in Goldfinger and Fleming consulted on the show. Thanks for finishing the question by answering it completly. Yes Vaughn was in The Young Philadelphians with Newman. Robert Vaughn was also in The Magnificent Seven with James Coburn and Steve McQueen and Bullitt and The Towering Inferno with Steve McQueen, William Holden and Paul Newman . The Girl From Uncle was the spin-off of The Man From Uncle. Now it's your turn to post one.

Quesne, Marshall -- Humphrey Bogart in The Return of Doctor X