Members

I first met Robert Osborne at a poster auction. We chatted for a bit and he was kind enough to give me his email address. He generally answered. I say generally because some of my questions may not have merited his time. I remember one such occasion was about different prints of a silent film TCM aired. This was before I realized he probably had no idea about every aspect of TCM. Fans are into minutiae. Later I had a couple of chances to speak with him privately at various festivals. He was always gracious and gave generously of his time. I will forever maintain RO was nothing if not a total gentleman. I wish I had the inherent social graces to be more like him. He is a constant reminder to me to be kind to all people on my days when I lack patience.

I'm trying to imagine Vivien Leigh as a timid, awkward, mousy virgin, and the picture is not coming through. Loretta Young believing she's not pretty? No way. Margaret Sullavan does smart, quirky, and sophisticated well in either comedy or tragedy, but the very blandness and nervousness that Joan Fontaine brings to the part makes her perfect. My very favorite Fontaine roles are The Constant Nymph and Letter to an Unknown Woman, but she connects to the essence of that unnamed narrator in Rebecca. The screenplay for Rebecca is very faithful to the novel, and the first viewers would have been disappointed not to see the opening act in Monte Carlo.

Oh dear god no. Why do you think he would have wanted to talk with us freaks?

Interesting, the different viewpoints. I think the Mrs. Van Hopper character is deliciously vulgar and beautifully overshadows "I," and gives context to how lost this passive young woman is and has to be. Establishing that pattern in her counts a lot toward understanding how easy it is for her to project stardom onto Maxim and echo feelings of intimidation with Mrs. Danvers. If it weren't for the first act, I'm not sure how the approach to Manderley would work. The tension and build-up would be less impactful, to my mind. The dreamy dance between Maxim and "I", and moments like Mrs. Van Hopper extinguishing her cigarette in the cold cream flesh out a lot.

Groucho is the king of snarky comments. One of the only good movie books to come out in the 70's was WHY A DUCK? edited by Richard Anobile because it's has the very best snippets of Marx Bros movie scripts. I've used these: Why not bore a hole in yourself & let the sap run out? You haven't stopped talking since you got here. You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle. Coach: What are doing with that cigar in your mouth? Groucho: What, you know another way to smoke it?

It's simple really here lydecker, and was a little more than just wanting an "un-Rebecca" type of woman. Max's attraction to her was that he felt through her, he could maybe recapture some of his own lost innocence. (...and ironically because GWTW was brought up here, in a similar way Rhett Butler's attraction to Scarlett was partly fueled by how he felt she too was actually an innocent to worldly things deep down inside her as well, and even though Scarlett could never be described as "mousy")

I recall going out to dinner with a woman in which I "borrowed" a lot of one liners from Rodney Dangerfield and Woody Allen which were sprinkled throughout the meal. She's lucky she didn't gag on her food with all the laughing she did. But one of the biggest laughs I got from her that evening was from a line I took from Groucho: "When a woman has dinner with me I expect her to look me in the face. That's the price she has to pay."

Mary Astor

Montgomery Clift . After the 1956 car crash that was so serious Clift’s doctors claimed it was “amazing” that he was even alive. Months of surgeries, rebuilding, and physical therapy followed. He resumed filming of Raintree County. Clift joked that it would be a smash just for the audience coming to compare his before and after the accident scenes. He died at 45 after years of drug and alcohol abuse. Clift's teacher at the actor studio called Clift's decline “the longest suicide in Hollywood history.”

AND, speaking some more of the exotic looking Capucine...and hats...

I seem to recall upon Joan Fontaine's death there were old quotes attributed to Olivia de Havilland where she oftentimes referred to her sister as 'the dragon lady'. If it weren't for their demure and refined upbringing, how cool would it have been to see both women on opposing Roller Derby teams? 😉

Thanks for this thread! Love love love Ginger, Blondell & Patsy Kelly wisecrackers! I have a terrible memory & have to write it down the moment it's said. Just watched STAGE DOOR....that exchange was gold. I recall a double entendre in a Charlie Chan movie that had us rolling in the theater: Gangster1: I'm not going to let some little Chinese d1ck ruin MY plans! Gangster 2: Want me to rub him out? (hope that's not too dirty for Otto)

Margaret Sullavan is, indeed, a fine actress, I think she might just be too American. Selznick just couldn't see her being bossed around by Danvers (she was older by that point, too.) He said it was unimaginable that she'd wish she were a woman in her 30s with a black satin dress. I think Hobson potentially would have had the same problem as Leigh might with the role. She's just so very beautiful , refined and sophisticated-looking. (Stupid John Profumo!) That skittish, coltish quality Fontaine had made so much sense for the role (ugh, Lily James--again, too sophisticated.) Awkward and beautiful is hard for any actor to register. I'm surprised that no one occurs to me who would have fit the role so perfectly as Fontaine. I've read the book several times and think the narrator is dry--she over-describes everything... Fontaine makes her interesting in a way that maybe even improves on the tone she has in the book.

Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

Since you brought it up, here are some more hats from Capuchine -- I'm in love with this first one! This is another favorite!! This one looks like she accidentally wore the hat box instead

Feel like going into a little more detail here Sans about how this "reaffirmation" took place??? Or, would this embarrass Mr. Capucine here. (...YOU, I know, wouldn't mind at all!) Over what kind? Big is OK as long as it's muscle, not fat. Flat is worse that fat. And Mr. Capuchine? Who is that? Capuchin = Capucine= Big difference.

See my post from Monday, $/4 where I also mention LEO GORCEY and GEORGE REEVES. And for the tragic kid actors....... Sepiatone

to my mind he is our greatest tragic figure. an unforgettable talent and a generous man to all who knew him...

Black Bart (1948) Universal released this western, a fictionalized account of the gentleman bandit who preyed on Wells Fargo stagecoaches in California during the 1870s. The film is distinguished by its strong Technicolor, making this production constantly pleasing to the eye. Dan Duryea, in a lead role, for a change, plays the title character, in a generally effective if understated performance, lacking the flamboyance of his best work. Top billed Yvonne de Carlo plays Lola Montez, another real life character, here with a fictional romance with Bart whom she wants to retire from the robbery business before he pays the ultimate price one day for his dangerous lifestyle. De Carlo looks sexy and flashy in a couple of Spanish style dance numbers though her character strangely disappears before the end of the film. Cast in supporting roles are Jeffrey Lynn, of all people, as a larcenous western bad man, along with Pa Kettle himself, Percy Kilbride, as a compatriot. Kilbride, at least, brings a rustic credibility to his characterization that Lynn clearly lacks. The stunt double work in this film is pretty obvious, at times, and every time Black Bart rides a horse in costume, including a mask covering his head, you just know that Duryea was no where near the film set that day. The ending may seem abrupt and rather conventional but I had to wonder with the flippant bantering dialogue we hear between a pair of bandits as they are finally cornered by the law if William Goldman had seen this film and been inspired by that aspect of it before writing his screenplay two decades later for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The other interesting aspect of this film is watching Duryea and de Carlo sharing romantic scenes a year before they were reunited to far different effect for the same studio's noir classic Criss Cross. 2.5 out of 4

1931

Laurel, Stan

From April 7-9, 1921, the Poli ran The Testing Block, starring William S. Hart as “Sierra” Bill and Eva Novak as Nellie Gray. The film was released in December of 1920, and is available on YouTube, running around 65 minutes. Brief Plot: “Sierra” Bill is the leader of an outlaw gang. He fights with Ringe, one of the gang. When a troupe of entertainers comes by, both men eye Nellie, a violinist. Bill quits the gang, marries Nellie, and they have a son. Several years later, Ringe comes to town and plots revenge. His “associate,” Rita, reads cards for Bill and tells him that his wife is planning to run away. Meanwhile, Ringe convinces Nellie that her husband is seeing another woman. How will this get straightened out? Review: The version I watched on YouTube contains an introduction, supplying some background on the actors and the locations. In all honesty, this was more interesting than the film. The movie is not bad; it’s just not very compelling. I’m not even sure what the title means. The acting is fine, with J. Gordon Russell a standout as the villainous Ringe. But most of the film is predictable, and even the climax, with the child seriously ill, becomes cornball. I will admit that the method in which Ringe meets his fate was a bit different, but it’s all over in about five seconds of screen time. The two most memorable sequences for me involved Hart and his horse. In the first sequence, he has to sell his horse to raise money for his son’s doctor. You can see the pain in his eyes when he agrees to the deal. In the second sequence, his horse returns to him after running away from the villain. The horse has been abused (whip marks are clearly evident) and Hart has murder in his eyes. Being a horse lover (I used to ride, and even mucked out a few stalls in my time), these scenes hit home for me.

Some still can.

Hitchcock said that Vivien Leigh would have been the perfect Rebecca. I always picture her when I think of the character. Fontaine and Leigh were not friends. They swapped apartments once for work--Leigh went to NYC, and Fontaine went to London. Someone knocked over a vase in Fontaine's apartment, to which Leigh said, "We're going to hear about that!" But she came back to her own apartment in London to find the place trashed and some things missing. Fontaine had had a goodbye party deluxe. She was stopped at the airport, but released. (Guess she hid the china cupid at the back of the drawer again.) Leigh's attempts to play "I" in her screen tests are totally wrong in their lack of innate innocence, IMO. Her radio version in 1950, however, is quite good. Loretta Young told me she thought she had the role. But then Selznick let her see the tests and she saw that Fontaine was magnificent. She told me that while she felt she had acted the part well, Fontaine was the part.,

Two hats worn by Elizabeth Taylor I love:

I love the movie and Joan Fontaine's performance. I think if it was remade today Lydecker wouldn't be the only person who wanted to slap her, she's the very opposite of the strong girl-power heroine of most modern films, but that's why I love the character and I can't really imagine anyone else being able to play her as well.

I was born in 1978, and I think I saw ET: THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL sometime on a re-release ca. 1984 (before VHS blew up.) I still have a STRONG MEMORY of how much I DESPISED IT, like white-hot-LOATHING from the pit of my stomach, as all the other children were getting misty and holding on to their mother's hands I was like:

AND btw, my above explanation being a major reason why I'm glad the first part of this film features all those scenes set in Monte Carlo, and that it wasn't abridged or shortened or shown in an abbreviated flashback style and as TB here mentioned earlier in this thread he wished it were. (...I think it sets up their goin' to spooky ol' Manderley, wonderfully)

I'm sorry to see TCM Inner Circle go away for the same reason as other folks -- it was focused on TCM and gave members a chance to weigh in on pending issues that would affect TCM. (For example, when Eddie Muller's then-nameless noir segment was about to start, they asked Inner Circle about the possible names for it. "Noir Alley" was born.) I started to apply for the Warner A-List group because I was curious about what it might entail. I got to the last step and then quit because out of the membership survey's many, many questions, they never asked about TCM even once (if I remember correctly). They devoted plenty of survey questions to comic book movies (DC was mentioned specifically) and various streaming services, however. No thank you. To move TCM to an all-streaming service would be to destroy much of what makes TCM what it is and what has given the channel a loyal fan base. How many other channels have a strong enough fan base to have annual film festivals and cruises? TCM is a curated presentation of classic movies, hosted by knowledgeable people who give context to what you're about to see, and often features enlightening themes. There are numerous short subjects, interview segments, and other featurettes that provide additional context and entertainment. Without all of that, TCM would just be a bunch of old movies that you could watch any old time. (Not that I'm putting down that kind of choice -- I have a huge collection of movies on discs that I can watch any time I want to, and services like the Criterion Channel serve the same need in part.) And it's a bit galling that, once again, millions of people would be left behind entirely if TCM went away as a cable/satellite channel. I don't use streaming services because I can't -- I have no choice. Some of us -- me included -- have substandard Internet service that's insufficient to support streaming. And because we live in rural or semi-rural areas, there's no other Internet service available. The only way I can see TCM is on a satellite video service; our Internet service, which is also satellite-based, apparently doesn't have the capacity to stream video content effectively. (When we tried it one time, all we got was constant buffering.) If you take away TCM as part of our satellite video service -- or you get rid of that whole satellite service -- you lose me as a customer entirely because I can't just move over to streaming. I hope that doesn't happen because I have no place else to go. (One possible factor that might keep TCM on our satellite video service is that AT&T owns both.) Look, I know things change, and I've definitely benefited from technological developments. There was a time not that long ago when we had no satellite-based video or Internet service. We had s-l-o-w dial-up Internet service and could only watch over-the-air local TV channels. Technology improved things for us, and I'm grateful. (Indeed, I've spent a long, interesting career in the technology world -- which is kind of ironic, given that we haven't fully benefited from that world.) But I don't want to be left behind with no TCM because no one is interested in offering us an adequate Internet service -- which I would gladly pay for.

Have we honored Sophia Loren yet? She has worn some stylish hats:

Keira Knightly has made several period dramas: Anna Karenina (2012) The Duchess (2008) Colette (2018)

I watched once by chance: Rebecca (1940) immediately following: The Enchanted Cottage (1945). I wondered at the time how well Dorothy McGuire might have filled Joan Fontaine role. It may soon be possible to use Deep Fake technology to believably replace any actor or actress in a classic movie with a different one at home with little or no graphics experience. The results might be quite enlightening or quite amusing or quite nightmarish.

The Conversation (1974) FLIX On Demand 7/10 A wire tap expert (Gene Hackman) refuses to turn over his tapes on a case he thinks will end in murder. This was a very good character study masquerading as a mystery/thriller. Hackman gives one of his best and most subtle performances. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola the same year he did The Godfather Part II. The film is very slow and tried my patience but the twist ending is worth waiting for. I had seen this before but I did forget most of it, including the twist. There is an interesting supporting cast. John Cazale is Hackman's co worker who becomes frustrated by his friend's cold behavior. Frederic Forrest and Cindy Williams are a young couple Hackman is hired to bug. Allen Garfield plays a sleazy rival wire tapper. Harrison Ford has an early role as a menacing assistant to Hackman's mysterious client. And Robert Duvall has a surprising unbilled cameo.

Margaux Hemingway, the daughter of Ernest Hemingway's eldest son, became a sensation in the mid-1970s. She modeled and acted, but the turning point of her movie career was her debut film, the 1975 drama "Lipstick." She played a model determined to avenge herself against a rapist who later assaulted her younger sister. The sibling was played by Hemingway's 14-year-old sister Mariel. It was Mariel, also a first-time actress, who was praised by critics and nominated for a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year (Female). Mariel's film career took off, and she received an Academy Award nomination in 1980 for her performance in Woody Allen's 1979 comedy/drama "Manhattan." Margaux's life took a different direction. She apparently inherited the Hemingway family's predilection for substance abuse and its struggles with mental distress. On July 1, 1996 -- almost 35 years to the day on which her grandfather killed himself -- she was found dead of a massive drug overdose. Her death was ruled a suicide. She was 42 years old. `

you bet your life

Everett, Chad

I don't like ET either. I never have. I've seen it exactly once and once was enough.

VICTOR VICTORIA (1982)

Show Boat 1951

Yes I did...it was great! Part 2 is coming up shortly. They weren't twins...Ma just decided to dress him and one of his sisters identically as she saw fit; sometimes as boys, sometimes as girls...even though they were 2 years (I think) apart in age! And you're right, his mother was something else. So was his dad, which I attribute to being too 'over the top' on their religious beliefs.

He probably killed himself with drink.

LOL I'm with ya on this too, Sans. Maybe in my case it was the fact that when E.T. first hit the screens I was already 30, and so of an age when an earnestly told little fairy tale like this Spielberg movie would appeal to me less than if I were half that age at the time. I remember after watching it back then in the theater and thinking it was "cute" and well-made with an inventive use of the special effects available at the time by its director, but little more than that. Oh, and as Tiki mentioned earlier, extremely munipulative and much too eager in attempting to pull at the heartstrings. (...oh, and I remember noticing that Speilberg loved to make almost every adult character in it either clueless or cruel, and which only further enforced my thought that he had really made it primarily for kids)

Fontaine said the British actors in the cast were very cool to her as Olivier wanted his wife (Vivien) in the part, but Sleznick vetoed the idea. She said this helped her performance as she felt like an outsider on the set.

There were a few back and forth exchanges, could have been more. One or two posters mouthed off at him or something. Conversation was asymmetrical and lopsided, as well as one might expect anything to go on here without any moderator presence (all online conversations with celebrities that I have ever seen always have an active moderator). It looked like he was testing the waters and thought "nah, I don't think so".

Cloud Nine owes a huge debt to Jeff Lynne. It was the best sounding album Harrison had made, for my take, since Material World. I think some might consider it over-produced or at least close but I think it is richer than a lot of the previous albums. My CD doesn't give any writer's credits but it does give a special thanks to John, Paul, and Ringo. I am with you on how good the songs are. It is the best overall collection in some time. All Things Must Pass is still my favorite. On your notes on Ringo I didn't have anything after Goodnight Vienna until Choose Love as the reviews were terrible and you have confirmed it still.

L O C A L H E R O ( 1 9 8 3 ) H A I L T H E C O N Q U O R I N G H E R O (1 9 4 4 )

The spirit was willing......

Cloud Nine by George Harrison -Nov 1987 My favorite George Harrison album, All Things Must Pass would have been if he not included that boring jam session disc. It was George's first in 5 years and every song is great. The title song sets the mood with bluesy feel with George in fine voice. "That's What It Takes" was co written by Jeff Lynne and Gary Wright and it's excellent pop song with an uplifting chorus. "Fish On The Sand" is great rocker with thumping bass line. "Just For Today" is a lovely ballad with warm vocals and nicely weeping guitar. "This Is Love" is a catchy toe tapping pop rocker. "When We Was Fab" tribute to the Beatles' psychedelic phase, Ringo is on drums with swirling cello which reminds me of "I Am The Walrus". George also adds some sitar at the end. Side 2 opens with the rocking "Devil's Radio" with George taking shots at the gossipy media. "Someplace Else" is a sweet soothing song with more beautiful guitar solos. "Wreck Of The Hesperus" is another good rocker. "Breath Away From Heaven" has a hauntingly beautiful melody inspired by the mysterious Orient. The last and best is the #1 single "Got My Mind Set On You", a rollicking uptempo version of an obscure song by Rudi Clark. When I first heard this I was immediately jolted by walloping drum opening and later the great rockabilly backing and George's most energetic vocal performance in a long time.

From "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:" Lorelei Lee: "Dorothy. Mr. Esmond and I are getting married." Dorothy Shaw: "To each other?" Gus Esmond: "Of course to each other. Who else to?" Dorothy Shaw: "Well, I don't know about you, Gus, but I always figured Lorelei would end up with the Secretary of the Treasury."