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1941 - The Great Lie Next: James Cagney taps his way down the White House stairs.

midwestan, you make a great point. I agree about everyone you mention in your post who was primarily a singer or dancer (or both) but who also acted, and often acted really well. My only quibble is with the last name on your list: James Cagney. Although it's known that Cagney wanted to be a "hoofer" or "song and dance man", and yes, he starred as such in Yankee Doodle Dandy, he was primarily an actor, and a great one at that. Most of his films are dramas of one kind or another (ok, mostly crime films), although he did explore comedy a bit (check out One Two Three, for instance). Anyway, Jimmy Cagney is for sure known, rightly, as first and foremost an actor, not a singer or dancer. And as an actor, he was one of the best of "Hollywood's Golden Age".

Vertigo (1958) Crazy Love (2007) disturbing documentary about Burt and Linda Pugach. A Hard Days Night (1964) the fans

(one-directional): Fatal Attraction (1987) The Fan (1981) Sunset Boulevard (1950)

I wonder if Eddie thought Zsa Zsa was funny in Green Acres.

Paul Mooney, the pioneer Black comedian and writer known for his outspokeness and collaborations with Richard Pryor and Dave Chapelle, died Wednesday. He was 79 years old. His publicist, Cassandra Williams, said he died from a heart attack at his home in Oakland, California. Known for his fearlessness in discussing racial topics and pushing comic boundaries, he was called "The Godfather of Comedy." Mooney was credited with writing the infamous 1975 "Saturday Night Live" word association test sketch in which guest-host Pryor's character was interviewed for a janitorial job by an employer (Chevy Chase). The intense session -- which included a few racial epithets -- ended with Pryor's character getting the job at a high salary. Mooney said he was inspired to write the piece after he was interviewed for a writing job by SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. In the fall of 1977, Mooney was a writer for NBC's short-lived comedy series "The Richard Pryor Show." Robin Williams (pictured below with Pryor) was a member of the cast. The controversial program was canceled after four episodes, partly because of Pryor's battles with the network's censors. It also aired on Tuesday nights opposite ABC's one-two punch: "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley." Mooney appeared as the soul singer Sam Cooke in "The Buddy Holly Story," the 1978 biopic for which Gary Busey received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his earnest portrayal of the 1950s rock 'n' roll pioneer whose meteoric rise ended in sudden tragedy. In Robert Townsend's acclaimed 1987 satire "The Hollywood Shuffle," Mooney played an NAACP official whose organization launches a protest against a Black actor (Townsend) for accepting demeaning roles. During his stint as a writer for the 1990s FOX sketch comedy series "In Living Color," Mooney served as the inspiration for one of the show's most popular characters. Mooney was known for responding "Aw no, homey!" when writers pitched ideas for sketches. Series regular Damon Wayons began wondering "What if Paul were a clown?" -- and went on to create the no-nonsense character Homey D. Clown. In Spike Lee's 2000 screen satire "Bamboozled," Mooney played a fictionalized version of himself -- a brilliant, uncompromising Black stand-up comic who never became a Hollywood sensation. In 2003 and 2004, Mooney made appearances on Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" as Negrodamus, a contemporary Black version of the 16th-century French seer Nostradamus. Mooney also served as a writer for the hit series. Ava DuVernay @ava Paul Mooney. A comedy giant. I recall listening to his RACE album in college and how formative it was. Yeah, the jokes. But more so, the freedom. He spoke freely and fearlessly about feelings and experiences others found difficult to express. May he be truly free now. Rest, sir. 11:30 AM · May 19, 2021·Twitter for iPhone Robert Townsend @Robert_Townsend Rest in peace Mr. Paul Mooney the #fearless king of Comedy...you always spoke unfiltered truth… always made time to share your knowledge… your edgy comedy Voice will live on... God bless your soul. 1:00 PM · May 19, 2021·Twitter for iPhone Laraine Newman @larainenewman Nooooooo! The beautiful, profound, deeply funny and brilliant Paul Mooney has passed away. God!! I first met Paul at The Comedy Store when I was 19. He was always so lovely to me and I eventually got to work with him on SNL. ****! This hurts so bad. 2:05 PM · May 19, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

The Seven Year Itch 1955 Bye Bye Birdie 1963 Play Misty For Me 1971

PUSHOVER (1954)

Gordon, Ruth

I Love You to Death (1990)

One of my favorites of all time. I saw it when first released, it was the first time I got to see an "R" rated movie, I was 13 at the time. This one would mean a bit more to a native New Yorker who lived through the city in the 1970s. And this was NYC in the 70s, in all it's grime , grit and dark humor.

Last night I watched THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 after someone here had said it was a great Walter Matthau role. Wow. What a great movie. The story is about four criminals who take a subway car & passengers hostage in exchange for a million dollar ransom. Matthau is at mission control of Transit Authority Police and is the person in contact via radio with the criminals and the police on the street & tunnels. He gets lots of air time and does great with this dramatic role. This thriller didn't lull for one minute and built up to several climaxes once Matthau decides to just pay the ransom to protect the hostages from being killed. Tension builds with scenes of money going through counting machines & being bundled. Several fabulous scenes take place as bright blue 70's cop cars speed through NYC streets trying to get the cash to the appointed place in time. The stunt driving is astounding-one crash in particular, I couldn't believe they want us to believe everyone survived - this was before seat belts & air bags. Also of note was the incredible music score by David Shire. From the very first notes to the end, the music was dynamic & unnerving mostly on the back beat with bombastic horns & slight sax melody. Wow. A really great example of film music enhancing the emotions of a movie. This was full of familiar faces Sal Viscuso, Doris Roberts, Tony Roberts in small parts & a younger Jerry Stiller as police chief (Rico Petrone haha) who was just as handsome as his son Ben here. All the criminals were unknown to me except Martin Balsam who pretty much always plays himself. The hostages were a little contrived, but OK. I did not like that one principle black cop's voice was dubbed or if that was his real voice, should have been dubbed, it was awful. There were many little one line snarks & jokes which added to the realism & at the same time micro-relieved tension. Just everything about this movie was OUTSTANDING. Well, except for what the mastermind criminal does at the very end, unrealistic. But I howled out loud at the very last shot in the movie - priceless. One of the very BEST ending shots ever seen in cinema, in my opinion.

It's really sad. I won't purchase any Disney item because they just take over & ruin anything they can. I feel the worst for Henson's Muppets & Dr Suess. Both had tried keeping their brand smart, wholesome entertainment for kids & adults by not over-merchandising. Now they are reduced to just another Disney cartoon charactor sticker on bananas, plastic Christmas tree ornament & silly hats. I actually feel sad for the Disney family because when Walt was alive the company was creative and innovative. Now it's just a vehicle for cheap tchotchke.

I think the more times one watches Touch of Evil the easier it is to figure out the plot, which is confusing on the first go round. Like Miss W I was amazed at how Heston would just leave his wife and not come back for hours. Well there he goes again. It's not like he just went down to the ice machine to get some ice. As the advice columnists say That might be a red flag.

They Came to Cordura (1959) Next: Mary Astor is going to have George Brent's baby but he's married to Bette Davis.

You may be late to the party misswonderly3, but you're always fashionable! 😉 I once found some Vargas pin-up girl playing cards in my father's stash (and boy, was Mom mad at me when I found them!). I was the one who mentioned "Touch of Evil's" plot being as convoluted and confusing as "The Big Sleep's", although I finally figured out the deal with "The Big Sleep" after multiple viewings. I could eventually figure out "Touch of Evil" too (I think!). I too love the music in the first-cut opening credits of "Touch of Evil", and the music overall is excellent in setting the mood for the picture. Whenever I hear the player piano going for scenes with Marlene Dieterich, it's as distinctive as the zither music that's played in "The Third Man". When you hear it, you know which movie is on the screen, even if you're in another room of the house. Did Eddie make a boo-boo when he said Eva Gabor was in "Touch of Evil"? I don't remember seeing her. I was able to pick out Mercedes McCambridge, and I must say, she looked more menacing in leather than she did in a long skirt in "Johnny Guitar"! As for Janet Leigh's character, she deserves more than a chocolate soda for what she went through. It must have been a whirlwind romance with Miguel Vargas, because if he treated her like this when they were dating, I don't think she would have married him to play second fiddle to his badge, right?

1982: THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE Next: Claudette Colbert prays for Ann Blyth's soul.

I can understand Orson Welles's viewpoint with his preferred opening of the film. On the one hand one opening sequence, along with the famous tracking shot camerawork, is dominated by the Mancini musical score (with its sexy jazzy sound with the bongos, horns and saxophone) while Welles's preference, instead, was to capture the natural sounds of the street. The only music that the viewer hears in Welles's version is that heard as he accompanies Heston and Leigh in that walk down the street, from the radios of passing cars or, maybe, from some night spot in the vicinity. You even clearly hear the sounds of a group of goats on that night street, sounds largely drowned out by the Mancini score in the other opening version. Now you can have your own preference, Miss W, which you clearly do, largely thanks to Mancini's terrific musical sound, and that's fine. But you also said that you didn't understand why Welles preferred the non-Mancini intro. From the viewpoint of Welles making a stylish exploration of a sleazy small town I can understand why he may have had a preference for the natural sounds of the street in his opening instead. I gather, and I may be wrong, that the Mancini music in the opening may have been a studio decision inflicted upon Orson's film, and not a part of his original vision.

Francis X. Bushman: in The Girl Said No (1930) with Marie Dressler and Sabrina (1954) with Audrey Hepburn Next: Lillian Gish and Danny DeVito

Van Heflin? Really? I actually kind of like, or at least, don't mind all those actors on your list. But the only one I have to protest their being on any "bad actor" list is Van Heflin. Van was great, he played many different types of characters. Offhand, the only film he could maybe be accused of over-acting in in Johnny Eager. He played Robert Taylor's melancholy philosophical alcoholic friend, and yes, definitely wallowed in the drunken slurred speechifying alcoholic characters were so often given then. Does come across as hammy, but this could have been the direction as much as Van's interpretation of the character. Other than that, I don't think it's fair to put Van Heflin on a "bad actor" list. But then, full disclosure, I hardly ever notice bad acting. Hardly anyone's a bad actor in my book. Maybe I just like bad acting- the hammy over-the-top kind of bad acting, anyway. It's entertaining. Wooden acting not so much.

Prepare yourself for it. The film's a heartbreaker. A very well made film, but emotionally devastating as well

From May 19-21, 1921, the Poli ran The Charm School, starring Wallace Reid as Austin Bevans and Lila Lee as Elsie Benedict. The film was released on January 9, 1921, at five reels, and is presumed lost. Plot: Austin Bevans, an automobile salesman, is courting Susie Rolles, but her mother disapproves of the relationship. Then Austin inherits a private school for girls from his aunt. The school has maintained old-fashioned principles, so Austin seeks to modernize it. He converts the place into a charm school, which causes him to clash with the Acting Principal, Miss Hayes. One of the students, Elsie Benedict, is a poor writer, so Austin encourages her to write him a letter every day to improve her skill. Eventually, through the letters, Bevans begins to realize that Elsie loves him. A second will is discovered, which gives the school to Miss Hayes. Bevans has a meeting with Elsie’s grandfather, who has given financial backing to the school. The grandfather is impressed with Bevans and offers him a position. When Susie’s mother hears this of this development, she tries to get Austin and her daughter reconciled. She also tells Elsie that Susie and Austin are engaged. Elsie fears that Bevans’ new position will turn his head, so she writes him a letter, and pretends to run away. Bevans finds her hiding in his car. Elsie has won him over with her charm. Motion Picture News wrote “every scene is perfectly dove-tailed which shows finished workmanship in each department. The humor is not lost for a moment, but effervesces throughout.” When the film played at the Strand Theatre in Omaha, R. C. Gary, a Paramount representative, concocted an interesting way to promote the film. He advertised that Wallace Reid had written a book entitled What I Know About Women, and that the book would be handed out for free at the Strand box office. He ran a thousand copies, which were quickly scooped up. The image below shows the contents of the book:

Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) Amour (2012) (Acclaimed films about an older couple.)

Queen Christina 1933

Friday May 21, 2021 Musical on TCM flower drum song

"Turn the Key Softly" Next: Rachel Kempson Cedric Hardwicke Ann Blyth

Shirley MacLaine: The Trouble with Harry (1955) with Edmund Gwenn & Rumor Has It (2005) with Jennifer Aniston Next: Charlie Sheen and Vincent Price

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946) Next: Joan Collins, Yvonne Mitchell and Kathleen Harrison

Ruth Terry

Double Indemnity (1944) (Because it's tough being an insurance salesman.) Next: Remember the Night (1940)

1990: THE FRESHMAN Next: Frances McDormand is a van dweller.

Live and Let Die (1973)

The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956)

Meryl Streep (Postcards from the Edge) Next: another film based on a roman à clef

I just watched Rebel Without a Cause recently, and it was so good. I can believe I had gone so long without seeing it!!

I Loved a Woman (1933)

William Powell and Roland Young next: Alibi 1931

Next Time We Love 1936 The Shopworn Angel 1938 The Mortal Storm 1940 next: June Allyson and James Stewart

Myrna Loy Next: Sherlock Holmes (1922)

WEST POINT OF THE AIR (1935)...THE CROWD ROARS (1938)...A YANK AT OXFORD (1938) Next: Margaret Sullavan & James Stewart

DON'T GO NEAR THE PARK (1979)

Also owned that on vinyl. Thinking back, I listened more to Arthur than Lola Vs. Powerman but never listened to either much. Once highly regarded, Lola has slipped quite a bit in critics' estimation. Thought of as a kind-of "come back" record when it was new, THE KINKS record sales continued to slip... Give The People What They Want was a noticeable return to USA charts... KINKS never rebounded in UK charts.

Well one thing I can say for CVS versus Disney - I don't think that CVS is in bed with the Chinese Communist Party. Disney gave shout-outs to the people who run the Uyghur concentration camps in China in the credits of Mulan. You did know that didn't you? I won't pay a thin dime for anything Disney controls because they snuggle up to these fascists. If Disney ends up owning TCM, it will be goodbye to TCM from me.

For many, low self esteem is a learned behaviour, typically learned in childhood. Adulthood, maturity comes when realizing you are the only one in control of your own life. You have to realize all that was taught you about "not being as good/deserving" is what they think, not what YOU think. Once an individual takes responsibility for themselves, they can break that cycle of low self-esteem. So yes blame is in order, but in the end it's your personal responsibility to grow up & out of it.

Halston is a anti -hero I mean it's really hard to feel sorry for the guy- even the growing up gay trauma aspect of the story.

Really, Phil? And here I would've bet you might have watched The Great Race or maybe Gypsy or maybe even Splendor in the Grass more times than those?!!! And personally, I wouldn't blame ya one little bit! (...or in other words...I think the pic that you're usin' for your avatar is great)

Sadie McKee (1934)