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Thanks to the local library, I saw The Pajama Game, not available for TCM's SOTM tribute to Doris Day. Too bad, because The Pajama Game keeps most of the excellent Richard Adler/Jerry Ross score (including "Hey There," "Hernando's Hideaway," "There Once Was a Man," "Steam Heat" among others); the stars can actually sing; some of the cast is from the Broadway show; and although this isn't on a par with Stanley Donen's musical direction at its very best (Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), it's still very good. Doris Day gets to play another of those plucky hard-working career gals, both strong and traditionally feminine, the perfect kind of role for her. I can see why John Raitt never became a big Hollywood star: not only were musicals on their way out as a staple of studio filmmaking, Raitt doesn't project much charm or even have much expression in his face--until he sings, that is. Raitt is a lyric baritone with strong top notes, and when he sings, he smiles and has all the charm that a star needs. Doris Day is one of the great popular singers, with the art that conceals art, the exact opposite of the style favored on the current TV singing competitions. Every moment of her songs sounds musical and sounds stylistically right, with clear diction taken for granted. One never sees the wheels turning or hears the singer deliberately making choices about phrasing. Raitt and Day are wonderful together in the wittily staged "There Once Was a Man." Bob Fosse's choreography for "Steam Heat" was new and stunning when he first created it. The zany Carol Haney has always been a favorite of mine, a great dancer with a memorable frog-in-the-throat voice and all the energy in the world. Reta Shaw is another favorite.

Love Me Tonight (1932) Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald): Do you ever think of anything but men? Countess Valentine (Myrna Loy): Oh, yes! Schoolboys. Viscount Gilbert de Vareze (Charles Ruggles): [after the Princess has fainted] Would you go for a doctor? Countess Valentine (Myrna Loy): YES... bring him right in!

Too bad Philomena couldn't be re-cut with a scene of Judi's character being excited about the idea of watching Cats. A truly meta moment for Ms. Dench.

Aside from Notes on a Scandal, that is true. I still think that the biggest reach of Dench's career was the moment in Philomena where her character sounds all excited about the idea of watching Big Momma's House on Pay Per View. That was a herculean force of acting...... Even so, it was her best performance, and the one time I would give her a win based on the competition.....

I thought they were going to autocorrect to Marcia Homosexual Hard On.

Jerry Reed Brian Keith

I've used it before and it is a good product. I coworker also calls Gojo, and he claims he used it to remove a wart on his face.

Lauren Hutton: Gator (1976), Paternity (1981) and Malone (1987)

Charming Delores Costello:

Thanks Bricks-nothing in your post surprises me. Shirley Jones strikes me as a wonderful person, she's endured a lot through the years and handled it with the utmost class. And she has been gorgeous her entire life. A true case of the outside reflecting the inside of a person. I've dealt with Martha in business as well. While a very pretty lady, she had the nastiest attitude I've ever encountered. At the time her daughter was her go-between assistant and all I'd have to hear is one word on the phone to know who was calling: She had that incredibly bored, chin in the air, Thurston Howell voice, "Hello Susan. This is Alexa Stewart.... you know, Martha Stewart's daughter...." and my eyes would roll. This sort of person often has a defensive demeanor because they assume they will be taken advantage of because they're "rich". I automatically add what I call "the gold fee" to these clients because I know they're going to demand twice as much work for discounted pay for "the privilege" of working for them.

I'm sure that Dame "Judy with an I" Dench would be very quick to correct anyone who misspelled her name. "It's Judy with an I," she said, curtly, and with a scorn in her eyes.

Marcia Gay Harden was really good in Used People in 1992 (alongside a dream of a cast: Shirley MacLaine, Marcello Mastroianni, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, and Sylvia Sidney), playing a woman who has taken to dressing as celebrities to cope after the loss of her baby. As Marilyn Monroe....Barbra Streisand... Anne Bancroft.... and my personal favorite, as Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde.... while she works as a bank teller.

I dislike taking a thread so very far off-topic but I believe that some elaboration is in order. I have it on good authority that: 1) Goop is for actual workers who need to clean deep grime and better-left-unidentified goops, glops and smears. 2) GoJo is for poufs, engineers who barely know which end of a hammer to hold and purchasing agents who once saw a worker with dirty hands. 3) Zep is for military-industrial-complex-wannabes who skipped all the mental aspects of puberty. I can believe that GoJo may remove warts. The SDS lists it as caustic. My most intense use of these products is removal of adhesive residues left by tape holding IVs and EKG tabs after they have been on for a week or more. Goop works well with a little scrubbing. GoJo works well only if you are willing to use a Brillo pad or paint scraper. Zep either ignores the residue with a live-and-let-live attitude or it bonds with it in a comrade-in-arms, we'll-stand-fast-together attitude. Your Mileage May Vary 😉

Vague, Vera

Maybe now she chooses to go by MARCIA PANSEXUAL HARDEN, we shouldn't try to erase her!

Tripplehorn, Jeanne

Well said. Yea, I don't think he had major talent above most other actors, and as you noted he didn't lack achievement in his career. So to me he was just another talented individual that didn't fully realize his talents, like the vast majority of all actors, artist and musicians.

Quigley Down Under Next: Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Herbert Lom

Wednesday, April 14 10 p.m. The Ladykillers (1955). Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom .. but Katie Johnson steals the film.

Speaking of which until now, I don't believe anyone has mentioned William Holden, perhaps because, despite his decades of drinking, the actor appears to have been a functioning alcoholic, whose film career continued to prosper off and on for years. Right up until his final film Holden was giving professional accounts of himself on screen. Just look at his brilliant delivery of Paddy Chayefsky dialogue in Network, five years before his death. for example. Still, with Holden, you could see the ravaging of his features, which began as soon as the late '50s (shortly after, ironically, one of the real highlights of his career, Bridge on the River Kwai) and the circumstances of his death in 1981 (banging his head on the side of a table while drinking alone and bleeding to death) is truly a tragic (and senseless) way for any man to die. Flynn, on the other hand, became a sorry spectacle with his career going down the toilet as a result of his lack of dependability with his boozing. Errol did experience a brief "comeback" playing alcoholics on screen (even with Oscar buzz surrounding one of his performances) but it became another form of typecasting and Hollywood soon lost interest in him again when his second and third boozy film portrayals were in films that died at the box office. To his credit, though, Flynn is very good (even touching) in The Sun Also Rises and Too Much Too Soon. (A side note: Flynn died two months before the release of his autobiography, My Wicked Wicked Ways, which, ironically, would have been his one touch of real success in years that he didn't live to see, poor guy. It would have picked up his spirits, if only for a brief period of time. Even then, though, Errol needed a ghost writer, Earl Conrad, to do much of the work for him because he lacked the concentration and discipline to pull the book together). Holden and Flynn, who had known each other superficially (Holden's wife, Brenda Marshall, twice had been a Flynn leading lady during Errol's prime years as a star), almost made one film together, The Roots of Heaven in 1958. Due to contractual negotiations, however, Holden dropped out of the project and was replaced by Trevor Howard. This resulted in Flynn getting top billing in the last "A" film of his career, despite the fact he clearly had a supporting role in it. While Howard was excellent in that film, it would have been interesting to see Holden share the screen with Flynn that one time just a year before Errol's death. S.O.B., Holden's last film appearance. His features are ravaged but his professionalism was still with him right to the end. Has anyone heard of Holden losing out on film roles because of his alcoholism? I haven't.

Stranger Than Desire 1939 next: Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman and Laura San Giacomo

I Remember Mama Next: Virginia Bruce, Ann Dvorak & Ilka Chase

Tea for Two

with Eddie Albert The Longest Yard 1974 Hustle 1975 with Candice Bergen Starting Over 1979 Stick 1985 with Charles Durning Starting Over 1979 The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 1982 Hard Time 1992

He's not half the man he used to be.

Young Frankenstein (1974) Next: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Even more with Teri Garr

I’d love that too and when you get a chance? Be sure to check the General Discussion board. I also requested for them to bring back Now Playing The Show too.

Son of Dracula/The Wolf Man/The Ghost of Frankenstein Next: Peter Lorre & Sydney Greenstreet

LA STRADA (1954) Next: Barbara Bel Geddes, June Hedin and Oscar Homolka

Magnificent Ambersons pic deleted

This reminds me of something Blanche says in The Golden Girls: (paraphrasing, because I can't remember the exact quote) BLANCHE on why she doesn't watch the news: "Once in awhile, they'll slip a dead body in on you. You'll be watching a nice little story about children in Central America and boom! Dead body." Thank you for that caveat though, I always hate when Forensic Files slips in a shot of the body.

The Red Violin (1999) I first saw this movie on DVD not long after its release. I remember I was interested by the synopsis on the jacket that promised a story about the history of a particular violin as it passes through the hands of different owners over the course of time. This was not long after "The Antiques Roadshow" became popular, and the value and provenance of fine objects became a point of interest for me. And I'm sure the cover art caught my eye. I don't want to say too much about the key points of the story because while it is not flawless (clever viewers will probably guess soon enough where things are headed) it is well-crafted and when the end comes, quite poetic. A violin maker in Cremona, Nicoló Bussotti, and his wife Anna, are expecting a child, for whom Nicoló has constructed what he believes is the finest violin he has ever made. Anna has an older servant named Cesca who happens also to be a tarot card reader. Anna asks Cesca to read her child's fortune, but Cesca tells her she cannot read the fortune of someone who has not been born. She can, though, read Anna's fortune, and as she says to Anna, "Until the baby is born, your humors are one." Anna selects five cards and as each is turned, a chapter is revealed. The story is told with back-and-forth shifts in time between Cremona in the 1680s and Montreal in the 1990s, interspersed with closed-ended stories in Vienna (my favorite of the segments and by far the most moving), Oxford (where things get quite melodramatic), and Shanghai, pre and post-revolution. (I found the depiction of life in a totalitarian state very frank in this section, and noted parallels to our current cultural tensions.) The Cremona story unfolds over the course of the film and at its climax, we learn the peculiar secret of the red violin. In it, and in the Montreal story, where we see the auction house business behind the scenes, a device similar to The Conversation is used with the same action shown from different perspectives, and using repeated footage that goes a little further every time we see it, until finally, in Montreal, we find that all the modern-day representatives of each of the violin's past owners are in one room, bidding to regain possession, and in Cremona, we learn why Cesca was able to foresee the story we now know. Along the way there are stunning scenes of the various locales, especially in Europe and China. The music is, oddly, not always particularly memorable despite the virtuosity of Joshua Bell, though it is impressive when you hear it. I found myself wondering what Ennio Morricone would have done with this opportunity. Irene Grazioli is very sympathetic as the mother anxious about childbirth at what she feels is advanced age, though she appears healthful and well within child-bearing years. I found the young violinist Christoph Koncz's portrayal of child prodigy and orphan Kasper Weiss in Vienna quite touching. (I have posted some excerpts from his segment here.) I enjoyed the depiction of his relationship with his teacher, played well by Jean-Luc Bideu. Jason Flemyng and Greta Scacchi play the eccentric virtuoso and his muse in the Oxford segment and now, after seeing it twice, it is apparent that this chapter was meant as serio-comic relief and, viewed in that light, they shine. Most impressive is Sylvia Chang in dual roles as, briefly, the mother of a young violinist in pre-Maoist China, and, more fully, the grown violinist after the revolution. Also noteworthy in this segment is Liu Zi Feng, who plays a teacher of Western music made to face public humiliation, and possibly death, for his love of Beethoven and Prokofiev. And Samuel Jackson. I don't know but I think, as talented as he is, he missed in this one. He just looks like he's up to something. He acts like he's up to something. Even before his character decides to be up to something. I won't say he was miscast, but if I understand his character, and I think I do, then his director should have spoken to him. "Don't shift your eyes. Not in this scene. That comes later." "Too much. Why do you care if he plays the violin? Cooler." The screenplay was co-written by director François Girard (who made a previous film about music, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould) and Don McKellar, who appears as a restorer of instruments. If you like period pieces, violins, or any instruments, antiques, history, if you have a soft-spot for children, for mothers, if you enjoy plot puzzles, take a look at this one. I think it is very well told. It is streaming free on Tubi, but while I normally don't mind ad breaks, I wish tonight I'd coughed up the $1.99 to see it without interruption on Redbox.

Murder By The Clock (1931) Paramount released this old house thriller between Universal's releases of Dracula and Frankenstein. Today, with the film's Gothic look thanks to Karl Struss's striking black and white photography, many would be inclined to emphasize a horror element to be found in the production, as well as the mystery. The story may seem familiar but it has some good touches. A wealthy crotchety old lady, fearful of being buried alive in her crypt, has a siren installed in it that can only be operated from the inside. She also has the usual collection of heirs hoping to get her estate. Among them is a lumbering half wit (Irving Pichel), as mentally feeble as he is physically strong, who likes to talk of his desire to kill someone. Naturally he will be the number one suspect if anything happens to anybody. But there is also the fashionable, sleek, conniving wife (Lilyan Tashman) of the old lady's son, despised by the old lady herself, but able to twist her weakling son around her greedy fingers. Those used to the slow pace of early talkies (particularly if you can endure Dracula) will have an easier time enjoying this film than some others. There is also the deliberate measured unnatural delivery of dialogue, a curse of many early talkies, to be found here, though no worse than in other films of the time. But the film also has its pay off moments, the eerie siren in the crypt that we just know we are going to hear sooner or later (more than once in the film actually), along with the over the top performances of both Pichel and Tashman. Tashman's manipulative villainess, while not be be taken seriously because of her somewhat tongue-in-cheek portrayal, is a schemer out for the estate who will commit no murders in the film herself but is ready to twist various weak willed males in the film into committing the crimes for her, all the while trying to maintain an air of innocence to the investigating detective (William "Stage" Boyd in an effectively hard boiled performance) who, incredibly, she also tries to seduce. There is just no stopping this woman. Tashman's blonde seductress can be seen as a forerunner to the femme fatales of '40s noirs. While her performance lacks subtlety she still remains a primary focus of interest in the film. There is also one memorable moment in which an off screen murder takes place, with the camera remaining on Tashman's face throughout it. The expression on her face in reaction to the crime, with her hand motions emulating the strangulation she is watching, can best be described as one of o r g a s m i c glee. Tashman, one of Hollywood's fashion plates at the time who was married to actor Edmund Lowe, would die of cancer three years after this film's release. An old fashioned "fun" thriller, Murder By The Clock has not, to the best of my knowledge, ever had a DVD release. There is, however, a soft looking print of it currently available on You Tube. 2.5 out of 4

In 2000-2001 I worked at the Rainbow Room in NYC. Lots of celebs. One star from the classic era that I recall meeting there was Shirley Jones. It was a daytime reception, can't recall the occasion. I wonder if it may have been a TCM event? She was stunningly pretty in person. Fresh, radiant, natural looking (at 60+ years old). Whoever was hosting the event had booked additional space to serve as a green room for her and other VIP's to chill in, before she was to join the event in progress and do some photos and a speech. When Ms Jones arrived I escorted her to that room, and she said something like, "if the guests can stand me, I'll just go directly to the reception". I said "Of course, Ms Jones", and I thought, wow is she humble and sweet (and sweet-looking). Another attractive older lady that I met there at that time was Martha Stewart. The event (weeknight cocktail reception for about 400 people, pretty sure it was summer, and ending at 7:30 or 8PM) was sponsored by either K-Mart or Wal-Mart (whoever has the blue light specials?), some type of business collaboration. When I met Ms. Stewart and her assistant I offered my assistance should they need anything. Ms Stewart was fairly blank but her assistant's demeanor was like "you can assist us by never approaching us again". Ms Stewart was a giant (I'd say 6'1" and broad shouldered), but very attractive woman at that time (in my opinion). I was a fan of her TV show and was struck by how good she looked. While working the event I was looking for an opening to chat with Ms Stewart, but it seemed unlikely to happen. She was constantly buffered by her assistant and there were many people that wanted to talk with Ms Stewart (she was the focal point of the event). So I gave up on chatting with Ms Stewart. Until she came up to me and said "There is something you may be able to help me with," Me: "Anything Ms Stewart, what is it?" (There were gifts and favors for the 400 guests of various swag including ballpoint click pens with a blue light, and Martha Stewart's logo on them) Ms Stewart: "Can you get me some of the pens?" Coincidentally, I was aware of the pens as we had been storing several cases of them before the event. Me: "Ms Stewart, I can get you some pens. How many would you like?" Ms Stewart: "As many as you can fit in my car." Me: "I'll take care of it, blah blah blah..." "Have you any plans for dinner, We'd love to host you at Rainbow Grill?" Ms Stewart: "Talk to my assistant." Well, I lugged 2 or 3 cases of pens 67 floors to the street, Martha Stewart's assistant guiding me.. No Martha, she was long gone.

The Deadly Companions 1961 The Parent Trap 1961 The Rare Breed 1966 next: Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner

As for the 2000 ranks for SDupporting Actress of the oficial nominees, I would have gone.... 1 Julie Walters 2. Frances McDormand 3. Marcia Gay Harden 4. kate Hudson 5. Judi Dench (and by a longshot. I hated Chocolat. Thought it was a sanctimonious, two-faced film.)

With Warner Archive releasing a new restoration of THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, a very silly notion popped into my head. Remember how Warners cannibalized their westerns in the mid-late 40's and dressed up Robert Shayne to take the place of Flynn & Cagney in two-reelers with stock footage? Imagine Robert Shayne and Ann Doran as Essex and Elizabeth in a B&W two-reeler adapted from the 1939 classic! I can hear Jack Warner now: "Get me Hollings' head!!" Too bad Warners only knocked-off their westerns. Any suggestions for other re-tread two-reelers?

The Crying Game

Just saw The War With Grandpa (2020), starring Robert DeNiro, over at my neighbors. That started off with DeNiro, as a crotchety-crotch old grandpa, gratuitously harassing/ physically assaulting a black guy. No problems with that, right? No I didn't think so. BTW, we immediately thought of that Coming To America scene too. 😁

Enemies, a Love Story (1989) Next: amnesia or blacking out

I understand duct tape can also work for that.

Gordon MacRae

Love Letters (1945), Duel in the Sun (1946) and Portrait of Jennie (1948) Next: Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers

My Friend Irma (1949) Next: Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Giulietta Masina

Theda Bara

Perfection! You're up, Princess of Tap! (Oh, and his long marriage I mentioned lasted nearly 60 years)

In season one of The Untouchables, Claire Trevor starred as Ma Barker in a episode. The episode is called Ma Barker and Her Boys and the episode is a very good one. They tell the story on how Ma Barker started her life of crime through flashbacks. Claire does a very good job as the character of Ma Barker. The story ends with a big shoot out , where Ma Barker and her boys die in this battle. Look for an early role for Louise Fletcher in this episode. Robert Stack is very good in this episode.

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.