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Case for The Yearling as noir: Actor Gregory Peck. He was in a great, end-of-classic-era noir, Cape Fear. Family in peril: mother , father, and young son are isolated in the backwoods of the Florida wilderness. Crops could fail at anytime, floods could occur...all kinds of scary stuff. Murder of innocent victim is planned: poor little Flag is shot dead, and by someone he trusted. Actually, I love The Yearling, but would advocate for it being classified as a noir as much as I would Meet Me in St. Louis (well, maybe that Hallowe'en scene...throwing flour in someone's face when they come to the door, pretty violent ! )

How about James Mason? Certainly an actor of some reputation, but I think generally underrated. He was fearless in his choice of roles, frequently playing characters who weren't highly sympathetic.

I did not have the slightest idea that Miss Jones and her doctor friend were conspiring to murder her husband. Was that supposed to be in the mind of the viewer, this possibility? I'm surprised that Eddie even mentioned this much less saying, "Gosh every time I watch this movie [which is probably I lie, really now, the Czar of Noir is going to watch this movie multiple times?] I think that she or he is going to say 'Well, it worked."" the circumstances might make this plausible in theory but entirely implausible in this movie. Loretta's voice over, sparse though it was, does not indicate that she is the perpetrator of a crime. And the "Father Knows Best," comment indicating the innocuous 50s is a clue that there is nothing terribly untoward under the surface. Let alone the fact that a surprise ending like that would require serious (albeit subtle) foreshadowing, otherwise we have a Chekhov's Gun problem. Further uelsess thoughts: How did they get that little kid to memorize so many line Was he dubbed? Is a child mentally capable of that kind mental acuity? What would Piaget say about this? The helpful next door neighbor is a blast. Forget it, no one's that nice. I wonder what she was up to? I wanted to kill the postman. Was that guy in the post office downtown Art Baker? Okay, Art, that's it, I'll never watch "You asked for it," again, even if it is never shown. I rather liked the Aunt. She was rather pretty and well dressed. Of course only a geezer would say that. I won't even say anything about her most obvious shortcoming. Now, that's love. I'll never watch this film again. I wish Eddie would include one Neo-Noir a month for Noir Alley.

Roger Livesey. Maybe because he was a Welsh born actor and best known in England, we in the states may not know him from a lot of productions. I think he was outstanding in I Know Where I'm Going and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

Eddie was very inaccurate in his Loretta update at the end of the film. Loretta adopted the child BEFORE she married Tom Lewis. There was never any secrecy about that. He adopted her later on when they married. He acted like there was some sort of cover up. The only cover up was that Judy was Loretta's real daughter. And this date rape thing is ridiculous! That is a second hand story from Loretta's daughter in law that she says happened before Loretta died. There is nothing to confirm this or that it ever happened. A way to make Loretta an innocent unwed mother after the fact? Gable could have had any woman he wanted in his heyday. Like he'd resort to that? And if it was rape WHY would Loretta appear with him in Key to the City years later? Also Gable DID know that Judy was his daughter and even met her during the Key to the City filming at her house. Judy was not aware of this until after he died. Very sloppy journalism from Eddie and was disappointed in his careless presentation of all this.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INFO! Not too long ago, I purchased a copy of 5001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES by PAULINE KAEL wherein she looses her s*** over NASHVILLE to SUCH a degree that I BOUGHT IT FOR $7.99 on AMAZON PRIME because renting was not an option. while there are some things I liked, and it was worth seeing for the cars, [some of] the actors, and the POWERFUL 1970sness of it, it is a condescending, ELITIST, downright RUDE film, the music sucks and the line "THIS AIN'T DALLAS! THIS IS NASHVILLE" is one of the 10 WORST in the HISTORY OF CINEMA. also LILY TOMLIN is no great shakes in it, nor is RONEE BLAKELY.

Why Vautrin! Haven't you heard? Didn't you get the memo??? Evidently almost ANY movie from the 1940-'50s filmed in B&W and which contains at least ONE crazy *** character in it that isn't playing that charcater for laughs, is NOW considered a "film noir"! Uh-huh, and especially if someone which as a noted expert on the subject such as The Czar of Noir, aka one Eddie Muller SAYS it is, then brother it MUST be one! (...OR in other words here folks...IF Cause for Alarm, a movie which contains absolutely NO visuals which even MILDLY suggest the story taking place in some dark and dangerous urban environment NOR a film in which the protagonist is vaining fighting against a rigged and corrupt system in which they have little chance to survive from NOR a protagonist who's attempting to get away with something that would be deemed a larcenous or generally antisocial behavior,well, IF this movie is a "film noir" and which one would THINK it should be for Eddie to present it on his series titled, wait for it, "Noir Alley", I'll EAT MY FREAKIN' FEDORA!!!)

It's Don Ameche

Gable knew about Judy Lewis for sure but a son was important for him and Gable did not need to rape any woman. He was the Brad Pitt of his era. Women were throwing themselves at him,he prefered waitresses and secretaries by the way. He had an on-off sexual relationship with Crawford for about 10 years,no he did not need to rape Loretta Young.. About Mitchum I do not know the $50 thing Eddie was talking about but i have read in a few books when Loretta Young was explaining the 'rates' for the fines in the jar Mitchum yelled to her 'how much do you charge for a F$$$$ ?! I guess Eddie censored it for tv...

Really love Dorothy McGuire (I assume you meant McGuire rather than MaGuire?) and not recognized enough. Two of her favorite performances for me is the mother in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and her role as girlfriend to Gregory Peck in "Gentleman's Agreement". She feels very authentic and transforms into her characters. I also love Richard Widmark. I think of his great performances in noir movies and Judgement at Nuremburg. I have to investigate Richard Boone and his parts.

I don't know if this is in that butler's tell-all, but I do remember reading somewhere that Marlo only wanted unattractive looking women as neighbors/other characters in That Girl. It's funny, though, long before that particular rumor got around I remember watching the show when it first came out and sort of being vaguely aware of the fact that "Ann Marie's" girlfriends were kind of ugly. Apparently Thomas didn't want anyone upstaging her in that department. Unlike godmother Loretta, Marlo did not grow up a beauty and this probably contributed to some of her insecurities.

Livesey is great. Another one is Anton Walbrook, who was also in COLONEL BLIMP. He does extraordinary work in GASLIGHT (1940) and THE RED SHOES (1948).

THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH Original version, 1934 First I want to say that I really like the more famous version of this story, the 1956 remake starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Who wouldn't? But this write-up is about the original Man Who Knew Too Much, made 22 years earlier. Of course both versions are made by the same director, Alfred Hitchcock, and it's interesting to ponder why he decided to make the film again. I'm not sure he ever did this with any other movie he made. The 1934 version is undeservedly much less famous than its 1956 successor. But it deserves to be better-known. It's very good in its own right. It's very quirky, it's suspenseful and actually quite funny -- funnier than the remake. For one thing, it's got a lot of odd little details, such as the main character attaching the knitting needles of a scarf his wife is knitting to the man she's dancing with. We see the scarf gradually unravelling as the couple dances. It's a beautiful combination of suspense and humour. SPOILER At first we laugh, seeing the woman's dance partner move around the floor as the knitting threads snarl around him and others on the floor. ( The husband is mildly jealous of his wife's dance partner, and wants to thwart the mood between his wife and this upstart dancer.) But then something quite unexpected, and not funny at all happens: the dance partner is shot. It happens so unspectacularly, so quietly, nobody even notices at first. So Hitchcock takes us from laughing to gasping in about five minutes. That's just one example of the memorable scenes in this film. Another one is the dentist's office where the father of the kidnapped child ( in this version a young adolescent girl, not a little boy) and his friend go to seek the daughter, based on a clue the father's found. It's so bizarre ! The dentist's business features an enormous set of teeth displayed over the door of his office. There's something surreal about the thing. And when the father (played by a British actor called Leslie Banks) submits to a dental exam by the dentist (who's also clearly working for the bad guys who kidnapped his daughter), you don't know whether to laugh or cringe as the dentist tries to subdue him with dentist's gas ( was it called "laughing gas" back then?) and the father overpowers him and ends up giving the sleeping gas to the dentist. Another memorable setting is the crazy "church" where the girl is being held by the kidnappers-- It's called "the Tabernacle of the Seventh Sun" or something nutty like that. It's a really funny scene, funny and at the same time very dramatic. There's a bit where the hero tries to leave, only to be detained by some old biddy who sticks a gun in his back. It's so incongruous, this chubby old lady, surely a washer woman or something like that in her everyday life, threatening this man with a gun. But possibly the best part of the 1934 Man Who Knew Too Much is the always watchable Peter Lorre as the head villain. He's so silky smooooth, he's always smiling and being polite to the hero (who at some point is taken prisoner), offering him cigars and celery (yes ! there's a jar of celery sticks in the room where the hero's being detained, and he (the hero) keeps crunching away on them !) Lorre sports a peculiar hairdo, there's a skunk-like white streak running through it. He achieves a perfect combination of weary sophistication and false solicitude for the man and his daughter, and ruthless determination and cruelty. Anyway, I enjoy this earlier version of The Man Who Knew Too Much at least as much as the more famous 1956 remake, and in some ways, more. It's just quirkier and funnier. You can really see where Hitchcock's going by this time in this film. I actually really like just about all of Hitchcock's British era movies. I think they deserve to be more well-known. And The Man Who Knew Too Much is a great example why.

Mentioning Lord Olivier reminds me of the film he is in that you shouldn't watch before going to a dentist: Marathon Man (good movie)

Best in Show Road to Utopia Murder Most Foul

I have mentioned before on here how much I look forward to Saturday night and Noir Alley. The favorite part of my week as far as TCM goes. I have seen many noirs in that time slot as a result. Cause For Alarm is the first time I turned a noir off and went to bed. I usually never turn off movies, no matter how uninteresting they are because I figure something can come about close to the end of a movie that makes the patience getting there worth it. Plus, I like to study the movies I watch and always find something even if it is a microphone shadow or an obvious lighting miscue, etc. I couldn't get through Cause For Alarm, however. I couldn't take the attitude of the husband, for one. Also, Loretta Young's character was so accommodating to him through all his abuse. I know other movies can play out in a similar way, but I just couldn't take it in this movie. Oh well, I certainly still look forward to Noir Alley next week and remember how disappointed I was over the several weeks not too long ago when those movies were not on.

I'd also put HERBERT LOM in that Brit category as well. Sepiatone

He made her out to be a complete control freak (I read it) If things went well, she was ok. If anything went wrong, watch out! There's a Thanksgiving dinner scene in there where Marlo goes off the rails about something with all her family there that's pretty scary if true.

Broken Blossoms (1919) The Awful Truth (1937) Sullivan's Travels (1941) Marty (1955) Breathless (1960) Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964) Duel (1971) Coffy (1973) Brussels by Night (1981) Aladdin (1992) Grbavica (2006) The Bling Ring (2013)

As both a self-taught expert on plants and a former resident of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, I will let you know that LARGE LEAF (ALGERIAN) IVY DOES EXCEPTIONALLY WELL OUT THERE. While it is a dry climate, it is also A VERY MILD CLIMATE (it's not HUMID, which is less stress on plants and the sun isn't as intense), and THE IVY there does fine in RATHER SUNNY CONDITIONS if given some small degree of occasional irrigation (OR NOT IN SOME CASES) I have seen MASSIVE BANKS OF IVY on the sides of OVERPASSES on the SANTA MONICA FREEWAY that would not be the least bit out of place in the proper gardens of the properest manor house in all EAST HAMPDONSHIRE-UPON-STRATFORD-LEES, UK. So while it may seem like LORETTA was shacking up with THE SEVEN DWARFS from the facade of the house, I will attest firmly, there are THOUSANDS OF HOUSES LIKE THAT ALL OVER THE LA AREA. AND the house in CAUSE FOR ALARM! is covered in large leaf variegated Algerian Ivy (which is MY FAVORITE):

Dragonwyck (1946) TCM 6/10 A wealthy land owner (Vincent Price) invites a distant cousin (Gene Tierney) to be governess to his daughter. I had seen this years ago but had mostly forgotten it. It was a good Gothic melodrama, sort of a small scale Rebecca. Price fans (like myself) will enjoy it, even though it doesn't really get interesting until the final half hour. Price is excellent and this seems like a warm up for his Poe films of the 1960s. Tierney is good as always as the naïve farm girl who at first loves living in the beautiful mansion but soon sinister things start to happen. Good supporting cast with Walter Huston as Tierney's strict religious father, Jessica Tandy as lame Irish maid and Harry Morgan as an angry farmer. One thing I was puzzled about was the abrupt disappearance of Price's daughter, I don't believe it was ever explained, does anyone know for sure?

I always put those memos in the shredder before I read them. Saves a lot of time. Casablanca, not noir. And you can take that to the bank. If Eddie is the Czar of Noir what is the Mankman? The Serf of Nerf? I think if one wants to make a noir case for Cause for Alarm there is the ol' behind the placid and sunny environs of suburban Anytown, USA is the rot underneath, as Uncle Charlie might put it. But even that is a bit of a stretch. Barry is just one paranoid guy, which isn't a whole lot of rot. Maybe this one should have been presented as Noir Crabgrass. But I still like this one for the reasons already mentioned. Barry up in the bedroom being waited on by sweet Loretta reminded me of the days I would get a day off from school for being sick, in actuality or not and my mom would bring me something to eat. If Joe Pesci was in a Loretta Young movie he might have had to put one third of his salary in the *************swear jar.

Richard Widmark

I'd like to discuss Signe Hasso for a moment. She has a role in Ernst Lubitsch's light-hearted romp HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943) but typically she did war films and noir in the 40s. A few nights ago I watched DANGEROUS PARTNERS (1945) which teams her with James Craig, and she is totally in control of their scenes together. She's even better in THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945) cast in a villainous role...and in JOHNNY ANGEL (1945) and A DOUBLE LIFE (1947). Like so many others, she transitioned to television and had guest starring roles on shows like Bonanza, Route 66, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco (another juicy villainess role) and Trapper John M.D. On the episode of Trapper John that I watched, she plays a concentration camp survivor who comes to the hospital to find a doctor (played by Harold Gould) that is an old Nazi with a new name/identity. She tells a harrowing story of how the doctor had taken her children from her because they were blond and blue-eyed, and that the children were adopted by "good" Nazi parents. She spent years trying to find her kids, and at this stage of her life, she has tracked down the doctor to exact revenge. There's a chilling scene where she corners him in an elevator and shoots him dead. A powerful actress who could convey a lot of different emotions.

Who knows? The ending is absurd. Oh, lookie, here's a guy riding a white horse through a fancy garden party of the rich, a Romantic Hero. Bones holds the gun that is already in the grip of Cutter and yes he shoots Cord, no one else. Bone is doing it the way Cutter would have liked, dead man's grip is better than nothing. Bone is protected because his prints are not on the gun. Cord says, "So what what I did," which indicates that he did it. I suppose there is ambiguity in there somewhere, maybe I should keep looking. I may be missing ambiguity but one thing I do know, it is a stupid ending.

I like Cause for Alarm more as a portrait, somewhat superficial, of early 1950s suburbia than a noir flick, though it has some interest as a look at the paranoid guy movie. The nosy neighbor, the little kid with the early TV merchandising getup, the mailman, the demanding hubby, the vacuum cleaner, doctors making house calls. Good stuff. Loretta's cookie box looked like one of those cheap ones with loads of tasteless thin cookies in them, so I don't blame the brat for taking a handful of them. But yeah, the next time I'd put some diarrhea causing ingredient in them and then let the tyke take a handful. See what happens to your Hopalong Cassidy pants then bub. Might want to clean the seat of your trike off too. I noticed in one scene, I believe the one at the beach where Barry is already starting to steal Loretta away from Grahame, that they both say they never make love on an empty stomach, Eve Kendall's line from eigth years later. Somehow they got away with it in '51. Well all's well that ends well. Nutty old Barry dies and I'm sure Dr. Grahame will be making further house calls to make sure Loretta is dealing with the loss of that creep. In like Flynn.

Yes, that annoyed me, too. "Revisionist history" by Loretta to clean up her image in later life. She also had an affair with Spencer Tracy (while he was married!) The poor, long-suffering Mrs. Spencer Tracy! Loretta clung to the image of herself as the "pure and innocent Catholic girl" but her actions definitely did not reflect that. I laughed out loud when Eddie mentioned that Robert Mitchum put a $50 bill in Loretta's "swear jar." Good for him.

It's interesting that Marlo Thomas for TCM did a tribute promo for Loretta and it's been shown on TCM over the years. Loretta was her Godmother and she talks about how wonderful Loretta was. We've all heard how Loretta was far from wonderful. Co-stars called her "Attila the Nun". Telling Judy Lewis she was her "moartal sin" was about the cruelist thing a mother could say to her child. On the flip side, I've also always admired Loretta as an actress. A great beauty, one of the most beautiful ever on the screen and a wonderful actress. Most times, when one of her films is shown, I watch and enjoy her performance.

That's why I was disappointed that Eddie picked Cause For Alarm and I wrote that last week and the fact that it's been shown many times over the years on TCM. I still would have rather he got his hands on Loretta's noir The Accused instead.

We really LOVE KIDS here on the TCM MESSAGEBOARDS DON'T WE? WC FIELDS would be right at home!!!!!

WELL, ACTUALLY : I THINK YOU MIGHT JUST BE SURPRISED!!!! (I apologize for any derailment that may incur by my veering off on this tangent.) about a month ago, I went to my local grocery store around 6:00 pm to buy some groceries. i checked myself out at the self-checkout (don't know if they have those in CANADA, but they are EVERYWHERE HERE.) full disclosure- i had been doing yardwork in someone else's yard and was too tired to go home and change, so i did do my shopping in a sweaty sleeveless "wife beater" tee shirt because I work out, Iook damn good for 43 and as long as I'm covered, this is America, I pay my taxes and I am allowed to shop dressed in a floor length ballgown if I so want. I did not keep my receipt because it is my local grocery store and I am there upwards of 5 times a week, I have shopped there for myself and my family for three decades and spent thousands of dollars in that time,. on the way out the door, I was physically accosted by the security guard who snatched the cart out of my hands and accused me of stealing. I of course did not have the receipt because I did not keep it. she then pushed my cart in front of me and blocked my leaving while another employee took my groceries that I HAD PAID FOR away while WHILE THE POLICE WERE CALLED. I was told to stop lying and when I said "check the system, I paid $41.06 at checkout two" I was told "it ain't gonna be in the system" by a bug-eyed bag girl who bore a striking resemblance to BENITO MUSSOLINI. FIVE MINUTES LATER, the manager who REALLY REGRETS TAKING THAT SMOKE BREAK FOR THAT PARTICULAR 15 MINUTES shows up, recognizes me AND GOES AND PRESSES THE BUTTON ON THE MACHINE WHICH INSTANTLY SPITS OUT MY RECEIPT FOR $41.06. I promptly informed all present that every last inch of my *** could then be kissed and left. SO... if that manager had not shown up, they would have absolutely had me arrested by the police, THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD SAY THAT WOULD CONVINCE THEM I WAS INNOCENT IT WAS DOWNRIGHT KAFKAESQUE. long ramble ended. my point being that, as with LORETTA IN "CAUSE FOR ALARM!" ANYONE'S LIFE, LIBERTY AND SAFETY CAN BE SNATCHED AT ANY MOMENT. FATE AND HUMANKIND TOGETHER WILL ABSOLUTELY BAND TOGETHER TO KNOCK YOU ON YOUR BUTT AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN LITTLE UNIVERSES IN WHICH WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR DOMAIN, BUT AT SOME POINT, 99.99999% OF US FORFEIT THAT THE MINUTE WE WALK OUT OUR DOOR OR THE MINUTE LUCK THROWS US ONE OF HER PATENDED B!TCH-GODDESS CURVEBALLS. And there is nothing so galling or unsettling as that lesson to learn about life.

Clearly an attempt to appear guilt free at the post office. Sadly, running true to form, she cracks again under the pressure. Had she spent more time watching Perry Mason and less time trying to please the big faker upstairs she’d have been better prepared. The kid was a PITA, and a cookie hound. Did you see that two fisted grab of cookies when he finally left? Just take the whole box bogart! I was hoping to see the camera pan up after the gun shot to see “Hoppy” sprawled across the sidewalk.

Married to the Mob (1988)

Nilly, Willy--Bert Wheeler in Diplomaniacs

Maybe next week he will reply and refute what he said.

WOW. What a scary story.

I wouldn't call it a Noir either because of that lack of style. Besides having a style and a dark story Noir is also subjective. Its got to have enough of those elements to tip it Noir for you. "You watch enough Noirs and you literally get to the point where, I've heard it put this way, that "you know them when you see them." I'll go that one better. Noir, for me is a pan generic dark story told in a stylistic way that triggers a vibe that you tune to, almost akin to a drug/alcohol high. You get a Noir buzz. But its a strange type of high that is actually topsy-turvy to a drug/alcohol high in that it works like this. For Noir neophytes they will only get that high from the hard boiled hardcore Noirs with Detectives, Femme Fatales, and murder. They are the Noir junkies, the mainliners. But with the more Noirs you get exposed to you'll find that there is an endless variety of stories that shuffle and spiral away on different tendrils that provide enough of the elements that make a film a Noir. Your personal life experiences will also inform your affinity to the types of stories that will tip Noir for you. So your tolerance level to Noir goes down, you don't need the hardboiled, hard core stories to get the fix and you recognize the noir in all the various tragedies and picaresque situations that plague the human condition. Noir expands out to an ill delineated, fuzzy "on the cusp of Noir" point where a film can tip either way for an individual. A good example of this effect is the the film Somebody Up There Likes Me that has a few very noir-ish sequences sprinkled through out its length."

I read he was difficult to work with. He certainly makes an impression. He will forever be in my heart. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is a perfect realization of that book, even with the omissions. JAMES DUNN is stunning. And of course he is in one of the greatest SHIRLEY TEMPLE movies...

(delete)

You've got a point there, Moe -- Gladys Kravitz, Rhoda Morgenstern... I think Lucille Ball wanted Vivian Vance to gain weight for the Ethel Mertz character....it might even have been in Vance's contract.

In his dreams. Stalin had bad skin from childhood diseases, so if it is uncle Joe, it is heavily doctored, which would not be unusual for photos from the Soviet archives. It is also apparently a mug shot. (Too bad they let him go.) Source here

Elizabeth Taylor in GIANT. Diahann Carroll in CLAUDINE.

That is not Marlo Thomas. That is a young Romulan girl.

Yeah, I think I recognized most of 'em in it Sepia, but who were those four guys who pop out of Krazy Kat's piano supposed to be??? (...they LOOK familiar but...)

I blame his parents. You deprive the little monsters of sweets then when they have a chance they gorge themselves into a sugar coma. Then again, there was no evidence of parents. Loretta didn’t engage with neighbors so she just assumed the kid lived nearby. For all she knew his folks got sick of him eating all their cookies and dropped the baked goods bandit off in the first decent neighborhood they drove through.

Not sure about that, but Loretta also dallied with Spencer Tracy two years earlier, during filming of A MAN'S CASTLE. So she wasn't pure as the driven snow when Clark came along.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is, arguably, not a horror film. But, the soul of the plot and its tone and stylistic interpretation tread into horrific territory. Briefly, a perfumer kills women to capture their scents. Based on a worldwide best seller by Patrick Süskind. Narrated by John Hurt.

Well, first off, my initial problem with Cause For Alarm is that the producer or director (or Loretta herself) were clearly trying to make her look like she's ummm . . . 20something?? when she was really close to 40 in 1950. What is it with actresses of this era (Crawford comes to mind) that they refuse to update their look and the result is that they look like very odd, "pretend" 25 year olds when they could be terrific looking 40 year olds? Subtlety is not much in evidence in this noir. Barry Sullivan might as well be twirling a mustache since he is a way over-the-top-creep from the moment he appears on screen. In the annoyance pantheon he ranks only slightly above: The Kid, The Postman and The Aunt. The set designer for this film went way over the top with the "ivy-covered-cottage-with-a-picket-fence" look. God. Not even the Munchkins would live in a house this "precious." Love Tay Garnett but this was not one of his best by any means.

Just a really quick note about Cause for Alarm: It's well-known, and was even in 1950, that the more guilty you act, the more guilty people are going to think you are. If you're innocent, relax. Running around acting guilty will only make you seem guilty. Loretta should have said to the execrable Barry S., : "Yeah, so the letter was mailed. Nothing you say is true, and I say, I'm not worried. And if you die- and it won't be by my hand- they can do an autopsy which will show there's no overdose of your medicine in your system. So nyah !" Also, the worst thing she could have done was to remove the gun from Barry's hand. The gun in his hand would have proved he was trying to kill her and that he was a nutter. By removing the gun, there'd be no evidence that Barry was bonkers and was trying to kill her. And yeah, Eddie's right...Loretta has no time to lose, and yet she takes several minutes to change her outfit and "get all dolled up", just to go to the post office and retrieve the letter (which it turns out wasn't there anyway.) The expectations in the 1950s of how women were supposed to look, no matter what the situation, were ridiculous. One more thing- nosy neighbours and busy body aunts ! The flip side to the "we're all friends and we all help each other out in this neighbourhood" thing is the nosy neighbour who interferes or possibly threatens the person with their nosiness, well-meaning or not. I would not have been able to stand living in a neighbourhood like that back then, with everyone standing around staring at everything I do. And that little kid ! He'd have driven me crazy ! he's not cute, he's a pain in the azz ! Get lost, kid ! And get your own cookies.

3 Women (1977); dir. Robert Altman (4/5 stars) *starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule. Words are practically escaping me at the moment; I enjoyed all the performances in this and am glad to have liked yet another Altman film. I really like Janice Rule also; I think she was definitely an underrated actress (I recently saw her in "The Chase" with Brando, and Bell Book and Candle 1958). ^^Here is a still of Rule in the Twilight Zone episode entitled "Nightmare as a Child." ^^