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I had the good fortune to see Mr. Holbrook in "Mark Twain Tonight!" in 1997. He was wonderful. It was a small theater in a small town and afterward he came into the lobby and mingled with the crowd as they were leaving. He signed a photo which my husband had purchased in the lobby as "Mark Twain", and on the back he signed "AKA Hal Holbrook." 😄 ~RIP, Mr. Holbrook

I know of him mostly because of his portrayals of Mark Twain. He will be sadly missed.

Hal's interview with the Television Academy Foundation was conducted in 2017 but just posted a year ago. He spent three hours going over his life and career. Thankfully he did that interview before it was too late. https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/hal-holbrook “I’d never been in front of an audience in my life. And when I started to talk, I got a feeling I had never experienced before. I realized that people were listening to me. It tapped something inside of me. I walked off stage and there was an elderly lady who’d been in Vaudeville and theater for years. She took a look at me and she said quietly, ‘You’re hooked, sonny.’” *** I was a production intern on Designing Women during the show's sixth season-- the year Julia Duffy replaced Delta Burke. It was the 1991-92 season, the highest rated one during the program's history. Dixie Carter (Hal's wife) had been promoted to top billing in the new opening credits, though Annie Potts made more per episode due to her feature film credits. Anyway Hal had a recurring role in the early seasons as the boyfriend of Dixie's character Julia Sugarbaker. He played a southern lawyer named Reese Watson. He also directed a few episodes. However, the Bloodworth-Thomasons who produced the show killed off his character on Designing Women because they wanted to move Hal over to their other sitcom, Evening Shade in which he was given a regular role supporting Burt Reynolds. Evening Shade ran from 1990-94. During the season I was at Designing Women, Hal was there every week without fail to watch Dixie filming. He usually brought Dixie's two daughters with him. They would sit together in the bleachers and watch Dixie perform down on the soundstage. These "tapings" (actually film, not videotape) were long, starting at 6 p.m. and usually going to midnight or 1 a.m. Hal and the daughters never left. They stayed the whole time to support Dixie. On another night of the week, Dixie and the daughters visited the other soundstage to watch Hal film Evening Shade and they stayed the whole time until Hal was done. What I won't forget is the way Hal & Dixie were so very supportive of one another and how deeply in love they were with each other. It was inspiring to watch them interact. Just a beautiful couple.

While I enjoyed the 1964 Killers well enough nothing in the film for me comes close to the riveting power of the first ten minutes of the 1946 version when the two hit men (Charles McGraw, William Conrad) arrive in the small town searching for their target. A combination of strong black and white photography and the ominous sounds of Miklos Roza's musical score, with its famous da-de-da dum theme, tells you that something terrible is about to happen. And then comes our first sighting of Burt Lancaster, lying in a bed but refusing to take cover when he hears that two killers are looking for him. Within minutes, Lancaster hears the sounds of their steps slowly approaching his room, with his door suddenly bursting open as the two gunmen empty their guns into him, flashes from their weapons reflecting light on their faces. The scene ends with a shot of Lancaster's hand limply falling to the side of the bed. It is one of the most justly famous opening sequences of any film. While some may argue that nothing else in the film matches that opening (and I would agree with them) the cast's performances and tension achieved through Robert Siodmak's direction contribute to make this one of the most memorable excursions down a dark noir screen ally. Poor Lancaster, trapped in an obsession with a woman who finally proves to be unworthy of his devotion, beauteous Ava Gardner, a sensual force of destruction for weak men, great journeyman actor Edmond O'Brien who is in many ways the real star of this film as he investigates the murder of a boxer, and sleek, duplicitous Albert Dekker, mastermind behind the robbery that brings most of the cast together. These four actors all make memorable turns here. I don't know what Ernest Hemingway thought of the '46 version. Only the opening ten minutes accurately reflects the entirety of his short story, to the extent that they even used some of his dialogue. The rest of the film was pure Hollywood invention in a production I regard as one of the key illustrations of the power of noir. Poor Ole. He's doomed from the first moment he sees her but it's not difficult to understand why.

Some people can really roll a role into a career.

Sheldon, Lorraine--Ann Sheridan in The Man Who Came to Dinner

In September 2017, Holbrook announced at the age of 92 that he would no longer appear in "Mark Twain Tonight!" after 63 years and more than 2,200 performances worldwide. His reason: The grind of traveling. He added that he had no intention of retiring from acting in film and television projects. Holbrook began his touring production "Mark Twain Tonight!" in 1954 when he was 29. Five years later, he took his show to Broadway where it was a major hit. In 1966, he won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for another Broadway production of "Mark Twain Tonight!" A year later, he brought it to television in a CBS special that earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination.

The 1972 ABC TV movie "That Certain Summer" starred Holbrook as a divorced father visited by his teen son (Scott Jacoby). The boy discovered that his father was in a relationship with another man (Martin Sheen). Directed by Lamont Johnson, the production was one of television's groundbreaking portraits of a gay couple. Written by Richard Levinson and William Link -- the creators of "Columbo" and "Murder, She Wrote" -- the made-for-television movie received seven Primetime Emmy nominations. Jacoby won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Drama.

Holbrook collected two Primetime Emmys for his performance in the 1973 ABC television drama "Pueblo," based on the true story of a U.S. Naval vessel seized by North Koreans in 1968. Holbrook portrayed Commander Lloyd M. Bucher (1927-2004), who decided to surrender the USS Pueblo without a fight. The United States declared that the ship was boarded in international waters; the North Koreans accused the Pueblo of espionage in their territory. Bucher and his crew of 82 men were held as prisoners of war from January to December of 1968. They were tortured and abused during their confinement. Holbrook won Emmys as Best Lead Actor in a Drama and a special award as Actor of the Year.

Holbrook won a 1970-1971 Primetime Emmy Award for his performances as U.S. Senator Hays Stowe -- an idealistic Kennedyesque figure in "The Senator." The character's home state and party affiliation were never mentioned. The series was part of NBC's revolving Sunday night series The Bold Ones, which also included "The New Doctors" and "The Lawyers." Holbrook first played Stowe in the 1970 TV-movie "A Clear and Present Danger." The series, which won four other Emmys -- including Outstanding Drama Series -- ran for nine episodes.

Garcia, Andy

Breakfast at Tiffany's Next: A great speech

Wayne, Patrick

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) Next: lots of screen time for Molly Ringwald

watching FOOD OF THE GODS right now. wow. just... wow.

Wednesday February 3, 2021 Menace on TCM little caesar the public enemy

I love My Dinner With Andre, but I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea. My wife and I saw it on the big screen when it when it was new, and while I've watched it repeatedly over the years, she thought that once was enough, noting that staring at the mostly unmoving characters on the screen gave her a stiff neck. (She does acknowledge that it was an interesting movie, though.) But to me, there's plenty of action -- it's just that you imagine it based on the characters' conversation, rather than seeing it on the screen. I'd compare it to old time radio shows, which obviously had no visuals themselves but stimulated the listeners' imaginations. I've found My Dinner With Andre fascinating every time I've seen it. (I have a copy of Andre Gregory's new book, This Is Not My Memoir waiting for me, and I'll read it as soon as I finish re-reading Howard Teichmann's very entertaining Smart Aleck: The Wit, World, and Life of Alexander Woollcott.)

I had the pleasure of seeing Hal at the Virginia Film Festival back in, I think, 2015. There was a documentary -- American Odyssey: 60 Years of Mark Twain Tonight -- being shown about him after his performance the previous evening in Mark Twin Tonight. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-laff-hal-holbrook-american-odyssey-20140614-story.html One of the scenes in the documentary showed him doing stretching and calisthenics so he could stay in shape for the Mark Twain role. He was pushing 90 years old at the time !! Very talented actor who will be sorely missed -

Tanganyika

I'd love to see Peter Ibbetson (1935), with Gary Cooper and Ann Harding. I recorded it off of AMC back in the day but by the time I transferred it from tape to disc years later it was in really rough shape. The cinematography is beautiful and the film as a whole has an ethereal, otherworldly feel. It's a really nice combination of romance and fantasy.

Yes, in 1956 Music Corporation of America purchased the entire Paramount pre-1948 FEATURE film library and syndicated the films to local television stations. When MCA merged with Universal, which I believe was finalized in 1963, Universal became custodian of the Paramount pre-'48's. Unfortunately, the transfer of materials was somewhat haphazard and many of the Paramounts remain in very shabby condition. Paramount had a huge library with an extensive 'B' unit output. Those B's are extant almost exclusively in 16mm former station prints. The Aldrich pictures are part of that group. But, as I said, there may be a literary complication therein. MCA affixed this logo in front of the Paramount logos on the pre-'48's.

The Important Witness (1933)

(A) Hole in the Head

The Old Dark House next--driving in the rain

Hal Holbrook Tributes Flood in For 'True Giant of Acting' After Death Aged 95 https://www.newsweek.com/hal-holbrook-tributes-death-95-actor-1566088

The Henry Aldrich movies get my vote, too. I've never seen one, but I really enjoy the Henry Aldrich radio program from the 30s-40s on which the movies were based. The radio program reminds me a lot of the Andy Hardy movies, which I love, and I'd guess that the huge success of that series may have influenced Paramount's decision to make the Henry Aldrich movies. I'd really like to see the latter!

Postcards From the Edge East of Eden Butterflies are Free Footloose Come Blow Your Horn Lost in Yonkers Only the Lonely Mother (1996) Mildred Pierce

Wonderful talent. One of the later-day character actors who also could play leads. Makes me want to go watch "All the President's Men" today.

I'd love to see TCM include this series during their Saturday Matinee. These films are a lot of fun. BTW - Jimmy Lydon is still kicking at 97!

For JANICE MEREDITH, Hearst recreated 18th Trenton, NJ in Plattsburg, NY on Lake Champlain. He loved recreating historical sites. Both WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER and YOLANDA required massive medieval sets (the latter covered 2 blocks in Harlem) and often used many items from his warehouses of things he had collected. Joseph Urban ranks as one of the great set designers. No detail was too small. All this immaculate work shows up on screen. It was time and money well spent. When the set and costumes for LITTLE OLD NEW YORK burned down in 1923, Hearst had everything rebuilt from scratch and rented various studios in New York to complete the film. Luckily the negatives were saved from the fire that flattened Cosmopolitan Studios. Not as elaborate as the medieval pictures, this one still makes you think you're in New York in the early 1800s. Hearst even built a replica of Fulton's steamboat, the Clerment and sailed it on the Hudson River for a few scenes. This one will premiere on TCM some time this year. As a film producer, Hearst ranks among the greats and has never been given the credit he deserves. He rarely took a screen credit. No expense was spared for a film starring Marion Davies. Luckily, most of her silent films from 1922 on were hits. KNIGHTHOOD and LITTLE OLD NEW YORK were mega-hits. YOLANDA and JANICE broke even ... even with their huge production costs. Hearst preferred to see Davies in these big costume extravaganzas but her comedies were just as popular as the epics and this is where she really made her name as an actress. In her career of 46 features films, Davies was rarely married (unless it was the happy ending). rarely had a child (ditto happy ending), was never a divorcee or other woman, rarely smoked or drank, etc. Obviously this limited her choice of roles. At MGM, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford got these types of roles. Marion Davies was always the star, never the leading lady to a male star (HOLLYWOOD REVUE being the exception as an all-star vehicle). Davies always got top billing. and was always the protagonist. Davies was active in choosing her roles and Hearst had the money to buy the rights to plays and books. At MGM from 1925 on, Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg also got involved and sometimes overruled Hearst. Timing was also an important issue. If Project A wasn't ready to go, Project B was used. Hearst disliked comedies like THE CARDBOARD LOVER, TILLIE THE TOILER, and THE FAIR CO-ED but these were films Thalberg thought were good for Davies. And they were. Even with the restrictions on what she could and couldn't portray on the screen, Davies assembled a remarkably wide range of characters and, for the most part, was memorable in all of them.

Holbrook's best villainous character? In "Magnum Force" (1973) -- the second installment of the "Dirty Harry" film series -- he played a corrupt San Francisco police official who controlled an elite group of renegade cops. After the lawbreaking character's explosive demise, Clint Eastwood's Detective Harry Callahan delivered one of his most famous lines: "A man's got to know his limitations."

I'm kind of surprised TCM is programming these movies based on that old book. They could do a night of "bad" movies with many other themes. (Unless that book is being reprinted and they're promoting it, or some reason like that). Most film buff friends I know don't care much for that book anyway. Too many people take it too seriously and truly believe the films in it are bad, when in many cases the authors seem to have just picked one by certain stars (like THE BIG NOISE with Laurel & Hardy) to represent a period in the star's career or some other reason like that. So, the book has done damage to the reputations of a lot of movies that aren't really "turkeys" just because too many people cluelessly believe what they read in a book. A perfect example is the aforementioned Laurel & Hardy movie THE BIG NOISE. It was reportedly included to represent all the inferior movies L&H made after 1940, when it is actually one of the team's better later efforts. It has taken years, but that movie is finally being recognized as not the "turkey" that book branded it as.

In 2011, Holbrook's memoir "Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain" revealed the circumstances of his difficult formative years. He was abandoned by both of his parents and wound up being reared by various relatives. He finally experienced stability when he attended a military academy. The book, intended to be the first of two volumes, also covered Holbrook's early years as an actor. It ended in 1959, the year of his Broadway success in "Mark Twain Tonight!"

As Deep Throat -- reporter Bob Woodward's key government source on the Watergate scandal -- Holbrook uttered the most famous line in the 1976 historical drama "All the President's Men": "Follow the money." But the line was an invention by the screenwriter William Goldman, who won an Oscar for his screenplay adapted from the book by Woodward (portrayed in the movie by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein.

Hal as Mark Twain:

Hal and Dixie Carter:

Hal Holbrook, Actor Who Channeled Mark Twain for Decades, Dies at 95 "..........A five-time Emmy winner, Holbrook was 82 when he became the oldest man (at the time) to receive an Oscar acting nomination when he was honored for his performance as a leatherwork expert in Into the Wild (2007). The Cleveland native also was memorable as a Senate candidate in Wild in the Streets (1968); as the vigilante boss of police inspector Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force (1973); as a NASA exec who engineers a fake Mars landing in Capricorn One (1977); as a judge who takes matters into his own hands in The Star Chamber (1983); and as old-school stockbroker Lou Mannheim in Wall Street (1987). Holbrook played Twain longer than Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who made Twain his pen name in 1863. He first appeared as the famed author and humorist in the late 1940s in a show for school groups;......... Holbrook collected an Emmy in 1974 for playing Lincoln in an NBC miniseries and portrayed the 16th president again in the 1985 ABC Civil War miniseries North and South and its sequel. And for Steven Spielberg’s 2012 Lincoln biopic, Holbrook played presidential adviser Preston Blair. In Alan J. Pakula’s political thriller All the President’s Men (1976), Holbrook emerges from the shadows as Deep Throat, the government source who tells Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively) to “follow the money” in their Watergate investigation. Most recently, he appeared in as Katey Sagal’s father on FX’s Sons of Anarchy; in a recurring role as a lawyer on SundanceTV’s Rectify; as an older version of Robert Pattinson in Water for Elephants (2011); as a science teacher opposite Matt Damon in Promised Land (2012); and as fire and rescue truck Mayday in the animated Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014). He also appeared on Bones and Grey's Anatomy. Holbrook was married three times, the last to Dixie Carter, a star on the 1986-93 CBS sitcom Designing Women. They were married for 26 years until her death......... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hal-holbrook-dead-actor-who-played-twain-lincoln-and-deep-throat-728371

I Have Lived (1933)

The Conqueror: John Wayne cast as a Mongol warrior? Really? Although I’ve read he worked to snag the part, he is beyond awful in this film. He is so miscast the movie becomes more of a farce than some sort of film epic. And wouldn’t Wayne, all painted up to mimic some cosmetician’s concept of an Asian male, be on a par with Joan Crawford in blackface? Wayne’s performance is just as lame. All his bluster and shouting don’t make up for his total lack of nuance and a total failure to understand any sort of Asian culture, tradition or heritage. Wayne would have to vastly better his performance just to reach awful. It’s the ego that drove him to demand this role in the first place and it’s the same ego that prevents him from understanding how absurdly miscast he is. And Agnes Moorhead as Wayne’s mother? Who thought that casting would work? Agnes Moorehead made some great films and how she fell into this pit of a movie is inexplicable. She was an intelligent woman. Unless she was starving and homeless, why else should she accept such a ludicrous role? And Susan Hayward in the role of the angry and generally vindictive daughter? Nobody thought to give her any sort of make up to at least attempt to fake Asian ethnicity. She looks and is dressed as if she just walked across the stage from filming Some gladiator flick and stumbled into these scenes and was told to ad lib. Unless one considers the efforts of the horses,, this film is devoid of successful acting.

Arizona (1940)

Astor, Mary

I just discovered "Decoy" yesterday while surfing Roku offerings for old or offbeat movies and TV shows. My eyes fell on a frame of Beverly Garland looking quite seductive, as Beverly often did, so I clicked. From the first episode, I saw familiar faces, but none I'd ever seen so young. Every episode I've seen so far has one or two. I watch and ask myself, "Where did I see her before? Isn't that the guy from that 70s movie?" There is a teenage-looking Joanne Linville. An almost svelt Ed Asner. Frank Sutton, before he was Gomer's drill sergeant. Nicholas Colosanto as a gun runner, 25 years before he was the concussed, stock stupid guy on "Cheers." Then others I can't name but I recognize from later work, like that shady character who would wander into Mayberry, and the guy who managed Lonnegan's Chicago operation in The Sting. They just keep showing up. They were then just young New York actors, but many went on to steady careers in supporting roles, if not stardom. The series was shot on location in the New York streets, a year before "Naked City." The first shot in the first episode features Beverly in a stole, and she's a drop-dead honey, lighting a cigarette on a bridge with the Chrysler building towering in the background. The street scenes were shot Ed Wood style with no permit. They just set up the camera and rolled. Those are not extras walking into and out of the shots. They are New Yorkers. A sharp eye will notice some passersby looking at the camera. As fun as the familiar faces and the cityscapes are, it is Beverly Garland's show. She plays Casey Jones, a New York City police woman who is often called upon to work under cover, and she is eminently watchable. She has an expressiveness in her face and her movement that is natural and magnetic. At the end of each episode, you even get some face time with her, when she speaks to the camera. Still photos don't capture her allure quite as well as seeing her move and hearing her speak, but I loaded some anyway. Why haven't I seen this before? 39 episodes were aired from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958. I've read a few items about it and learned that it was sold into syndication before production began, so it had no real network support. One reviewer said it never even aired in New York City, which I'm guessing would have helped it's chances. Does anyone remember it from back then? How did it go over? All episodes are available without charge on The Roku Channel, Tubi, and The Archive, or on Amazon Prime for $1 per episode. If none of those are an option for you, YouTube has many episodes. What the hell. I've used up this much space, what's a little more? Here's the opener.

Pritchard, Alicia -- played by Thelma Ritter in DADDY LONG LEGS (1955)

Watching THE BAD SISTER (1931) on YouTube. Interesting precode with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart.

Anything Goes (1936) Chained (1934) The Lady Eve (1941)

Kulp, Nancy

I'm not sure if they have been digitally restored, but the fact that none of them have been shown on cable TV or released on video or DVD suggests that they have not been restored. The last time I saw any of them on TV was in 1987-88 when local channel 27 in Worcester, Mass. ran them. And those were old MCA-TV prints that were not in very good shape. I recorded them all though. And, concerning AMC, I am sure they didn't run any of them.

Cheers

VICTOR VICTORIA (1982)