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I've worked with many stars, as I've dropped into conversations here over the years. But there's one "star" that I never actually met, though I could have. I grew up in a big, rather grand apartment building in the Bronx. When I was 15, one of our neighbors -- a woman named Dora Klein -- asked my mother if I'd be willing to take her granddaughter Barbara to the New York World's Fair. This was in 1965. My mother told Mrs. Klein to ask me. Mrs. Klein told me that her young granddaughter -- about the same age as me -- was coming in from California, and would I take her to the Fair. I said no. I was shy, partly because I'm gay, and in those far off closety days of my teen years, it made me uncomfortable if someone tried to fix me up with a girl. So I guess Dora Klein's granddaughter went to the Fair with someone else, perhaps her grandparents. In any case, the girl grew up to be Barbi Benton. I sometimes wonder whether, had I gone on that date, could I have saved Barbi from years of infamy with Hugh Hefner? Could she have made me straight? I think not, on both counts.

Honestly, even before Sunday night's Oscar debacle the show was on life support. I KNOW that The Academy clings to this telecast because it is (seemingly) the only way they funnel significant dollars into The Academy but, it's over guys. Give it up. Find another way to make money. The show has been pretty much a disaster for years and the more you mess with it (no host, no production numbers, no film clips, super sped-up In Memoriams, etc) the worse it gets. Go back to the early days of the Oscars where everybody already knew who won and you celebrated with a nice little dinner for the chosen few. And, for God sake's stop saying: "And, the Oscar goes to . . . " It's a competition and everybody knows it. Say: "And, the winner is . . . . " The Hollywood Reporter's take on the Great Sunday Night Disaster: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-2021-analysis-how-chadwick-lost-frances-won-and-the-oscars-went-off-the-rails

Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr in Vacation from Marriage (1945) (...love this film, and would've liked to have seen these two paired again)

He was when I saw him in concert Rochester NY circa 1974-5? -he wasn't popular or well known yet. The only reason I went is because no one else wanted to go with my friend who bought 2 tickets. It was a small venue, yet there were very few in attendance, maybe 50 people. After a song or two, Joel saw the ridiculousness of the situation & invited everyone to gather around the piano, up on stage. An unforgettable experience. I've always wanted to find anyone else who was there that special night since I can't recall the name of the venue!

OK how about Classic (Rock) Stars? Billy Joel was and I presume still is, a very nice, regular guy. I recall him coming to the Russian Tea Room on several occasions. One instance that stands out, in the mid 80's, he stopped by in the late afternoon because his mother and her friends were coming to lunch later in the week (without him). He wanted to make sure in advance that they would be treated well. His implication was that he was concerned that they would be typed as suburban housewives, etc. etc. The maitre d', myself and other waiters were like "Are you kidding? Your mother? She is gonna have a great time". (But thank you for the 50 dollar bills that Billy distributed). Postscript: Billy Joel's mom had a GREAT time that week. I saw Billy Joel again in '99 or '00 at the Rainbow Room (67th floor at 30 Rockefeller Center). He performed at some private event, I can't recall if it was social, or corporate... So there were rooms booked on the 66th floor as his "green room". Beverages and snacks, a baby grand to practice on. The event was in the evening, but he and his manager showed up quite early. Mr. Joel had so much time to kill that he wandered around the place throughout the day, and we chatted. Mr. Joel was quite friendly. His manager was quite nice also, but sort of a street guy (heavy Queens accent). I remember I asked his mgr., "What do you charge for a private gig like this?" His manager said, "Guess". I held up one finger (I'm thinking $1 million)? Billy Joel's manager: "You're close."

James Stewart and Grace Kelly James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich (although I suspect they might have had personal reasons for mutually avoiding it) Cary Grant and Grace Kelly Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint Judy Garland and James Mason (an unexpectedly effective pairing) Howard Keel and Jane Powell Humphrey Bogart and Dorothy Malone

Incidentally, Hopkins was the first non-postumous Acting winner not to turn up at the Oscars since the Paul Newman and Michael Caine no-shows of 1987.

Did I insult Rob Lowe by referring to him as John Travolta, or was that an upgrade? Oh well.

Zelig (1983) Waiting for Guffman (1996) Best in Show (2000)

i finally got a haircut after a year of quarantine, but before that, i had taken to (I kid you not) using BOBBY PINS when I was at home to keep it out my eyes (it was 8 inches long when I got it cut) and I'm still finding BOBBY PINS all over the place. my apartment looks like I had WITCH HAZEL over one evening for drinks and cackling.

From the Wikipedia: "Historically, the telecast's viewership is higher when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture award. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, the year of Titanic, which generated a box office haul during its initial 1997–98 run of US$600.8 million in the US, a box office record that would remain unsurpassed for years.[81] The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, in which The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (pre-telecast box office earnings of US$368 million) received 11 Awards including Best Picture, drew 43.56 million viewers.[82] The most watched ceremony based on Nielsen ratings to date, however, was the 42nd Academy Awards (Best Picture Midnight Cowboy) which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7, 1970.[83] By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings, despite how much critically acclaimed those films have been. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budget independent film Crash (with a pre-Oscar gross of US$53.4 million) generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%.[84] In 2008, the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest-rated and least-watched ceremony at the time, in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards.[85] The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another independent film (No Country for Old Men). The 92nd Academy Awards drew an average of 23.6 million viewers—a new low." It looks like this Wikipedia article will need to be altered.

A shame that Jeanette MacDonald never worked with Lassie again. They could have at least done some dog food commercials.

https://www.sfsketchfest.com/watch/videos/tributes-and-special-events/plan-9-from-outer-space/

Part of me is kind of wondering if they had planned a great big TRIBUTE TO CHADWICK production number to end on and had it all cued up behind the curtain, with THE SOLID GOLD DANCERS dressed as his various characters, all just standing there stupefied like “so are we not doin this now or what?!”

State Fair/Duel in the Jungle/Madison Avenue Next: Tyrone Power & Alice Faye

Judy Garland was cast with Fred Astaire in 1949's The Barkleys of Broadway but due to illness was replaced by Ginger Rogers. Then Garland was to replace June Allyson in 1951's Royal Wedding starring Astaire but again due to illness Garland was replaced by Jane Powell.

Three Little Words, A Southern Yankee, Watch the Birdie Next: John and Patrick Wayne

I sense a theme... 🙂

When I was in practice my staff always looked forward to the Oscars. I would print out and give everyone a ballot. We would have an office contest. I would give a gift card or some other modest reward to the winner. Friends and family members would want to play. The "tie breaker" was who will be the 1st and last person shown in the "in memoriam" segment; 2 names. It often came down to that category because they always started and ended the segment with a substantial movie star. We had a blast. Monday mornings were always fun. "Who won? Who won?" I'm retired now. My wife and daughters (who live far away) asked if I was having the contest and I said no, not this year. I texted with them. We had a huge laugh over how long that octopus documentarian went on and on about octopusses. I'm not saying their documentary wasn't good, but the academy clearly showed they had nothing to offer by letting that speech drone on. The other one was the hair and makeup winner. The lady wouldn't stop!!! I know hair and makeup are important....but they never even showed us the hair and makeup. They never showed the special effects or the costumes or the cinematography. I thought last night's ceremony was absolutely pathetic. Actors know when they are in a dog. They know their first obligation is to entertain. Was it Steven Soderbergh who produced/directed that mess? He should be ashamed. Looking at the faces of many of the actors, et al who where there, I think many looked embarrassed. As I have spoken fondly about my previous encounter with Glenn Close; she put up a good face, but I bet she was appalled. That was inexcusable. All of it. Again, the M&Ms ad early in the broadcast was the best part.

Sister Kenny (1946) Australian nurse discovers treatment for polio Awakenings (1990) New drug to help catatonic victims of encephalitis epidemic The Man with Two Brains (1983) Doctor Michael Hfuhruhurr's technique of cranial screw top brain surgery Fantastic Voyage (1966) a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into the bloodstream with a small crew

It's probably already been pasted somewhere here but, coincidentally, I'd already thought of pasting the following - Shirley Eaton getting the Earl Scheib treatment:

It went by very fast during the ceremony. In a year when many people lost loved-ones during a global pandemic, I think it would have been fitting to devote a few more minutes to this segment. As someone mentioned earlier, the photos zipped by at varying speeds as if to the music. No movie clips, either. They ended on Chadwick Boseman, I think hoping to build momentum for his anticipated win for Best Actor. TCM does such a lovely job at the end of each year for all the people that have passed. Last night's Oscar in memoriam segment looked like it was done by someone who had no idea who these people were or didn't care. Pretty crummy.

Roy Scheider and Gene Hackman And has William Powell and Irene Dunne teamed up on anything else besides LIFE WITH FATHER? I thought their chemistry was very good too. Sepiatone

Jean Arthur and Charles Boyer had really exceptional chemistry in History Is Made at Night (1937). I wish they had teamed up again.

I'm thinking 14.8 million. What about you guys? To be clear, there is no prize for accurate guessing, this is not a gambling website. Just the smug self-satisfaction of knowing you are right when the numbers come out mid-Monday/Tuesday.

THE BIG HEAT 1953 next David Niven gets stuck to a chair in Gladys Cooper's house

SLEEPER (1973)...INTERIORS (1978)...MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY (1993) Next: Mia Farrow & Woody Allen

Variety @Variety The #Oscars Weren’t Good, but They Channeled a Movie Industry in Transition https://bit.ly/3xCeU4L 2:14 PM · Apr 27, 2021·TweetDeck

Real Life (1979) The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)

THE PURCHASE PRICE (1932)...THE GAY SISTERS (1942)...MY REPUTATION (1946) Next: Ann Sothern & Gene Raymond

I knew Brooke Astor slightly. She was very kind to participate in a project I was working on, and I met her a few times after that. I did not know Malcolm Forbes, but someone I knew in the UK helped him with his toy soldier collection.

Now, I would have paid real money to see that!

Lorna, aren't the Solid Gold dancers all in their 60s by now? But then that production number would have been emblematic of the entire event wouldn't it?

It was going to be EPIC. And we’re not going to see it now. thanks, Sir Anthony.

I was hoping for one of those Anthony Hopkins moments in every film (yes even "Thor"), where Crazy Tony indulges his dark/sadistic bully-actor acting demons, and, at some point, snaps and starts literally barking at the poor other actors with psychotic intensity: "I regret that, owing to travel problems during our current pandemic troubles--and, of course, the problems of old age--I am unable to be there to accept this award in person, since you're...GIVING IT!!!...in a G**-***N!...TRAIN!...STATION!!!" Even odder was Joaquin Phoenix's out-of-it response, as a more professional actor could have at least ad-libbed a few words of thanks on Hopkins' behalf: "I mean, they take the liver from the calves when they're still young, and serve it with fava beans and a nice Chianti!..." ----- As for, as Jimmy Kimmel joked, "How could something so Woke put us to sleep?", I liked that the final last touch on the train wreck was karmic revenge for other years when they thought they had a surefire Inspirational winner--Like the year the Ceremony was so tomorrow's-headline convinced that "12 Years a Slave" was going to walk home with everything, the entire evening was themed as a "Tribute to unsung ethnic heroes", with the obvious Picture winner as climax. Here, they'd planned the evening as the George Floyd Memorial Service to Chadwick Boseman, even giving Best Actor higher billing as the last award of the evening as a fitting climax over Picture, and....OOPS-ieee! That, as they say, Is Showbiz. 😁 At least this year's Oscars may give comfort to Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Seth MacFarlane, James Franco & Anne Hathaway, as they could all sleep soundly that night knowing they were no longer responsible for the Worst Oscar Ceremony in History.

My choices, with my favorite of the best picture nominees second 1960 Breathless/The Apartment 1961 Last Year in Marienbad/West Side Story 1962 Lawrence of Arabia 1963 The Leopard/Cleopatra 1964 A Hard Day;s Night/Dr. Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb 1965 Help!/ Doctor Zhivago 1966 A Man for all Seasons 1867 Two for the Road/Bonnie and Clyde 1968 Yellow Submarine/Oliver! 1969 Andrei Rublev/Z

Kane, Emily Monroe Norton - Ruth Warrick in Citizen Kane

Ives, George, played by Clayton Moore in "Montana Territory"

Blind Adventure (1933)

Awakenings (1990) Lorenzo's Oil (1992) Medicine Man (1992)

Alright. Thanks Peebs. I’m watching my. email too. When I receive all the info about all the events. I’ll see what I can do. See you there virtually. I’m really looking forward to this Virtual TCM Classic Film Festival a whole lot. I can’t wait. It will be a blast. How about you?

Politics have nothing to do with it, it's just too long and boring as hell and the films nominated most people have never scene and will never see.

Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott

The trailer of Speilberg's West Side Story is stunning. Yes - beautiful cinematography in it. I love the 50's set design/cars/clothes. The graphic of the long shadows of the two gangs merging together is wonderful. When I heard that Speilberg was remaking West Side Story, I was worried that there would be a new score but the incredible music of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim is in it. Their music was irreplaceable. I read that Speilberg's film is closer to the stage version of West Side Story and their will be a new screenplay. I understand that to many it won't feel right that in many ways, Speilberg is copying a classic. I look at it this way. West Side Story is a work of art which will be reintroduced to a younger generation. It's sad but most young people won't even look at older classic movies. I was wondering if Maria is going to be played by a Latino girl? I was always bothered that it in the older movie they wouldn't cast a Latino.

Baxter, C.C. ; played by Jack Lemmon in THE APRARTMENT

We're Not Dressing

On further thinking of "The Lateness of The Hour" and with the aforementioned cost-cutting videoptape for a half dozen episodes of The TWILIGHT ZONE in mind, "The Lateness of The Hour" includes a scene which arguably is more confrontationally creepy than anything offered up in the big budget of THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975).

True. I remember reading a book about twenty years ago that considered slavery from an economic point of view. The authors made it clear they condemned slavery as an institution, though there was still some controversy about the book. One of the things they pointed out was that slaves were valuable property to their owners, so it would be foolish for them to kill or maim slaves. They would just be losing value. I'm sure some slave owners let their temper get the better of them and did brutalize their slaves, though from a financial viewpoint they were also hurting themselves.

I did post a link earlier to slave narratives done by the WPA interviewing ex-slaves. The troubling ones for today are the ones that speak of slavery happily. But it takes a hardy soul to sustain itself through that, and that's what allows any race to last. But white people are not speaking for them, at least. And Margaret Mitchell did not do that. It would have been presumptuous. She covered territory she knew from a perspective. To vilify her characters and dismiss them would be missing the point that these were people, who were as human in their joy and suffering as anyone, and could be you or I. IMO, Scarlett is the terror of most straight men, and the scorn of a lot of upright women. Maybe it's hard to find her likeable, but almost impossible to not find her behavior human. A reviewer on a Marilyn Monroe bio once said that the bio was not very revealing. He said if MM were to come to life and read it, she'd think, "My secret is still safe...", but if Scarlett came to life and read GWTW she'd say, " Oh my God! How did they know!"

That line isn't in harmony with today's racial views. We are race-conscious. So many people today choose to define themselves by the race, or their gender. Then there's the whole idea of a man being proud to be a man. Some might say that's toxic. They didn't touch on it because they don't know how to handle it.