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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/12/2021 in all areas
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Let me make it simple for you. Worry more about what's happening now WHICH YOU CAN CHANGE and not so much about old movies WHICH YOU CAN'T CHANGE.5 points
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Moving away from GWTW for a moment, I watched the TCM commentary (before and after the film) about "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." I was fine with a lot of the insights but the interpretation of the "real meaning" of Spencer Tracy's final speech to the young couple I completely take issue with. It was suggested that Spencer Tracy's speech giving "approval" to the marriage of his daughter to a black man was akin to the "white master" having the final say in the matter. Wow. Never, ever got that. I find that interpretation completely over the top. In truth, Dr. Prentice (aka Sidney Poitier) dictates HIS terms to the parents: "Either you give whole-hearted approval to this marriage or I won't marry your daughter." So, Tracy giving this speech (in addition to the fact that Stanley Kramer wanted to give Spencer Tracy his last great screen moment) essentially states his feeling that: "Love must triumph over any 'societal BS' an interracial couple may have to deal with" and is completely in response to Prentice's demand. Poitier's character literally says: "I want you to state, in the clearest possible terms, what your attitude is going to be" which is exactly what Tracy does. This is a flawed film in many ways -- my biggest gripe is the patronizing reference to the character Tillie -- "Been a member of this family for over 22 years" -- No, she has worked for you for 22 years . . . but I have never, ever seen Tracy's character as a "white master." Realistically and legally (and it is said a few times in the film) Tracy (and Hepburn) don't have to give "permission" to their daughter to get married but, from a plot standpoint, if there wasn't some "conflict" set up at the beginning of the film (Dr. Prentice says he won't marry Joanna if they don't approve) there would pretty much be no reason for us to sit there for nearly 2 hours. Much has been made of the Joanna character being painted as clueless regarding there being any "problems" with an interracial marriage. I've listened to Katharine Houghton discuss how much she wanted Joanna to have at least one speech in the film where she acknowledged that she "got it." But, Kramer clearly wanted the character to be somewhat of an "innocent," untainted by the prejudices of the people around her. I've always liked the character and I also never had a problem with Dr. Prentice being "too perfect," either. " Joanna was college-educated, obviously, from an extremely well-to-do, influential family and it made sense to me that she would be attracted to and marry a successful, professional man. Poor Spencer Tracy. Bet he had no idea that 50+ years after his very last film, folks would be insinuating that the character of Matt Drayton was a closet bigot.3 points
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I saw Dangerous Crossing (part of a 4-CD budget set from Fox with Call Northside 777, Laura, and Black Widow). Jeanne Crain has married a man she scarcely knows (Carl Betz) and they head off on an ocean voyage, but he disappears. Did he really exist or did Jeanne just imagine him? Shades of The Lady Vanishes and other variations of the Paris Exposition story (as in So Long at the Fair). Can ship's doctor Michael Rennie cure Jeanne of her delusion or perhaps help her find her husband? What about some of the other passengers--ship's officer Max Showalter aka Casey Adams; the much-married lady (Marjorie Hoshelle--wish she'd had more screen time); the man with a cane (does he really need that cane?) etc. Joseph M. Newman directs; he directed a better variation of this story in My Name Is Julia Ross, and I definitely prefer Nina Foch to Jeanne Crain in the starring role. Dangerous Crossing is short (75 min.), and if you like the genre--noir lite, damsel in distress, mystery--it's fine. I figured out part of the twist but not all of it. Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle is a plus.3 points
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Ronald Colman in A DOUBLE LIFE The count in DRACULA Uncle Charlie in SHADOW OF A DOUBT Snape in HARRY POTTER Cary Grant in CHARADE Pretty much any movie about spies that can't tell people they're spies, such as THE LADY VANISHES and JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT NOTORIOUS has spies and Nazis leading double lives The killer in LURED (no spoilers from me) Toby Jones in "The Lying Detective" episode of SHERLOCK -- billionaire philanthropist celebrity who turns put to be a serial killer3 points
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FLAWLESS 1999 ( Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman ) FLAWLESS 2008 ( Michael Caine and Demi Moore )2 points
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You are correct, Lavender. I discovered that late last night and I intended to post about it this morning. Thanks to Chaya, Peebs, Princess, and Lavender for playing. As a group you got them all correct, and you know that there were lots of other westerns on TV in those years. Maybe we'll get to some of them in the future. This thread is all about reminiscing and I had fun just looking for the photos. I hope you all had fun identifying them. Lavender got the most, so she gets the next turn.2 points
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THE CONQUERORS (1932) western drama with Richard Dix & Ann Harding THE CONQUEROR (1956) historical drama with John Wayne & Susan Hayward2 points
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Last night I watched REMBRANDT (1936) one of several Charles Laughton/Elsa Lancaster (they were married) films. This was the first time for this one. To me, Laughton is one of the great actors of the 20th century and I'm never disappointed by his performances. As always, Laughton was terrific. He was in almost every scene. I found the story fairly dry and wasn't connected to what was not much of a plot. Nevertheless, Laughton owned the screen and I found myself wanting to see the next scene. What will he do? Say? Sadly, not much happened. It was basically one scene after the other of Rembrandt talking, thinking out loud, espousing on something or other. It had a pretty good orchestral soundtrack. It had some interesting set designs and lighting effects which for 1936 I thought were worth seeing. I would give the film a solid "B". He was only 37 in this movie. It was produced just after he played Bligh and a couple years before Hunchback....both which were much more entertaining, dramatic roles. I've not seen the 1935 version of Les Misreables (how do you do the little dash above the "e"?) where he plays Javert. I'd like to see that. I bet he was good. Laughton died in 1962 at only 63 years of age. Clearly, he was a great talent who died way too young. He never won an Oscar. Hmmmm.... On other boards about baseball we often debate about great players who should be in the Hall of Fame. It might be nice to start a thread on great actors who never won an Oscar. Laughton would be on my list.2 points
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AND, the funny thing about your quote of Nilsson's lyrics here Thompson is that I remember the aforementioned first time I ever visited NYC when I was that young man of 20, and with that visit taking place during a winter month, I remember freezing my butt off much of the time as I walked around Times Square and other parts of NYC, and because being a Californian, I didn't bring nor even own at the time warm enough clothing for it. (...all I had was a corduroy sportcoat, as I recall)2 points
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MADE FOR EACH OTHER (1939) comedy drama with Carole Lombard & James Stewart MADE FOR EACH OTHER (1971) romcom with Renee Taylor & Joseph Bologna2 points
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Actually, in that scene that James was talking about Cid, there IS a shot of a woman in the background out in the cotton fields who looks a lot like Sally Field. AND, if you center your sights on her in that scene, I think it looks like she's mouthing the words, "You like me! You really like me!" (...now THAT is "satire", folks!) LOL2 points
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Nutty Professor (1963) - Professor Julius F. Kelp/Buddy Love Breakfast at Tiffany's (1963) - Holly Golightly/Lula Mae Barnes Clark Kent/ Superman (1978)2 points
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The Shadow (1940) Lamont Cranston/the Shadow Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) No Way Out (1987) Russian spy poses as American officer Mrs. Wilson (2018 tv mini-series. Based a real story, a wife finds out after her husband's death that he had several other secret wives and families.) On Mad Men, Dick Whitman became Don Draper. (Draper died during combat, Whitman was wounded and the Army confused the two men's identities. Whitman kept Draper's name/life)2 points
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unemployable Michael Dorsey/soap star Dorothy Michaels...Tootsie nerdy pharmacist Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) is also salesman Paul Sothern in Tension (1949) Nestor Patou (Jack Lemmon) becomes Lord X to be with Irma la Douce2 points
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I agree that being the notion of this couple being committed to getting married after knowing each other for only 10 days (no matter what races they were) was totally ridiculous. In the "real world" (even in 1967) Joanna & Dr. Prentice would have jetted off to Geneva (and beyond) and lived together for a while before deciding whether or not they wanted to get married. But, hey, this was a movie made in 1967 and Stanley Kramer was not going to have his young heroes go off and "live in sin. " A lot of this was just standard movie convention. OK. We want to set up this situation where a young white woman meets and falls in love with a man who her parents have never met and surprise, surprise, he is African-American. Obviously, the only way she is going to do this is to either have a job out of town (she doesn't) or go on a vacation alone. To make it even more urgent (to put more pressure on the situation) he is only going to be in the USA briefly so the parents (both sets) must meet and approve of the couple in a matter of hours. (Very, very unrealistic scenario, but, again, this is a movie.) I laugh when people say John Prentice's CV is unrealistically "perfect." Hell, the whole movie has "fairy tale" written all over it. She's rich and beautiful, he's handsome and accomplished. They fly back from Hawaii, no less, to her parents' McMansion and, after a brief bit of drama, literally fly off into the sunset and live happily ever after.1 point
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I also assumed the newbie felt I was cracking wise about anyone having seen a 1939 film in a theater that wasn't a revival theater (so say in the early 40s). I was sincere when I said "bravo" if that was the case; bravo for still being around (since one would have to be in their late eighties \ early 90s even if they saw the film as a child). My dad that passed away last year at 90 would tell me stories of seeing initial releases of films. His favorite memory was seeing Treasures of the Sierra Madre when he was 19. One of his favorite expressions for over 70 years was "We don't need no stinking badges"!1 point
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I have to wonder this as well Dargo... I have to also ask if TB means that no film should ever be glorified or even deemed acceptable if a problematic part of the film is shown or explored, or does he just seem to suggest that ANY film that deals with the kinds of issues that GWTW shows should never ever be shown again or that if a film like GWTW was shown again that by all means some sort of warning should be shown before the movie is broadcast, telling viewers that the images shown in the movie is not acceptable by today's standards?1 point
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THE SUNDOWNERS (1960) Next: John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Susan Hayward1 point
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How ironic that people today are so upset about our history (you know, that thing in the past) as it is portrayed in old films, yet sit and watch states like Georgia pass laws aimed at suppressing the vote (you know, making it harder to register and actually cast a ballot), laws that mostly impact Black voters. Gee, anyone would think this sort of voter suppression is a relic of the old slave days (you know, those days of yore we get so upset about when they're shown in old movies).1 point
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Fri., 3-12 Underground............. times ET 2:15 am Scissors (1991) 1h 47m | Thriller A repressed young woman is assaulted in the elevator of her building, and her neighbors tr... Director Frank Defelitta Cast Sharon Stone, Steve Railsback , Will Leskin, Mary Reynard, Ivy Jones, Ronny Cox see: https://letterboxd.com/film/scissors/ 4:15 am Schizoid (1980) 1h 28m | Horror Julie writes an advice column for the newspaper. Around the time she begins to get threate... Director David Paulsen Cast Klaus Kinski, Marianna Hill, Craig Wasson, Donn... see: https://letterboxd.com/film/schizoid/1 point
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7. Had a rich theater career. Two of his performances on Broadway were in the original production of the musical Roberta, with Bob Hope, Tamara, Lyda Roberti, George Murphy, and Fay Templeton; and in The Seagull, with the Lunts and Uta Hagen.1 point
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STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989) Next: lots of screen time for Claude Rains1 point
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad,Mad,Mad At told (the ending at the hospital) Next: lots of crying1 point
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The Hollywood Reporter @THR It’s Official: Los Angeles Movie Theaters Can Reopen Next Week It's Official: Los Angeles Movie Theaters Can Reopen Next Week hollywoodreporter.com 7:18 PM · Mar 11, 2021·SocialFlow1 point
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I LOVE YOU ALICE B. TOKLAS (1968) Next: Matthew Modine, Tate Donovan and D.B. Sweeney1 point
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I am also a big fan of Fat City, one of the best films of a decade that is not a favorite of mine, despite the commendably ambitious attempts of the filmmakers. Most of the films already mentioned have genuine historical importance, but I have no particular desire to see many of them again. However, I'd like to mention a few that haven't been named yet: Badlands Foul Play--a standout in a decade not remarkable for comedy The Man Who Would Be King North Dallas Forty Star Wars--original version only1 point
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I wasn't going to to respond, but I am confused. Your posts on the GWTW thread in Off Topics seems to condone and even support TCM having a panel to explain to us what is wrong with the movie. Then your above posts seems to say they should not be doing it.1 point
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There's lots of time to vote for your favorite schedule, folks! Voting ends March 31, 2021. In the meantime, we already have a few votes in: San Fin: 2 Overeasy: 2 Lonesome Polecat: 1 Stevomachino: 1 7 super schedules which deserve your attention! Vote early and often!1 point
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THE STAR 1952 ( Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden and Natalie Wood ) STAR 1968 ( Julie Andrews and Richard Crenna )1 point
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RAIN 1932 ( Joan Crawford and Walter Huston ) RAIN 2001 ( Susan Dey and Scott Cooper)1 point
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After watching EVERY GIRL SHOULD BE MARRIED (1948), I feel that my opinion of Cary Grant in comedies may be shifting to the better. My epiphany is that it is only the screwball comedies that I object to. I have talked to people here who love all things Cary and the comedies especially and the screwball comedies especially still. My wholly unqualified opinion that something fails in the screwy comedies is a conviction that, intrinsically, there is nor real genius there. He bumbles around as if he is in some middling TV skit (or worse, he reminds of Chevy Chase movies), In the more sophisticated comedies he is much better, that smooth sophistication is perfect. The above movie is a good example. Betsy Drake is divine, a gentle but conniving (of a benevolent sort, I think) as she tried to entrap her man. I think another is IN NAME ONLY which has one of the most wonderful beginnings of all time. The fishing scene. Cary and Carole share a fishing pole and a sandwich. I don't remember the whole movie much. Kay Francis had a scene when she gets angry and is horrible. Anyone remember anything like that? I'm probably imagining it. Anyway, Go Cary !!!. You have achieved some rehabilitation in my poor eyes. Of course, you are great in NORTH BY NORTHWEST and stuff like that.1 point
