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"To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer."

SPOILERS/ It's funny, Cobb cures Holden. But after killing 3 people, you KNOW he's going to the chair. LOL. Why bother? The film would've been better with Eddie's ending with Holden being shot by the police. The prologue beginning with Cobb was dumb as it gave away the fact that Cobb survived the ordeal. No suspense there.

As long as there will be message boards, we are always going to have people coming on and complaining about more recent films being shown on this cable channel. And some of these folks are always going to say that the demise of TCM is just around the corner and many will say that all they see are newer films. If one looks at the schedule, that is further from the truth. I agree that many of the films TCM shows are repeats. Often times the same film is shown multiple times per month. But as Tiki has written there are "newer" older films that have not been repeated as much or films which have never been shown on the channel. People just have to understand that when TCM purchases the rights for certain films,most of the films come in packages that can include newer films and many older more "B" films from earlier decades. For every time they show a film like The Best Years of Our Lives, they will show other possibly older films multiple times so they can show the best film of a package. At least that is the way VP Charlie Tabesh explained it to me (if I can remember).

Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke are in Night At The Museum with Ben Stiller

Murder by Death (1976) Next: Character actors abound!

It would have been more realistic if he was the last child she had after a brood of kids, at age 40. But I think the screenplay was written with a 30 year old actress in mind, not a 50 year old actress. Jean Arthur is miscast. Logically she would have been the boy's grandmother. Especially since women in the west often started having kids in their mid-teens. We have the same problem with Lucille Ball as Mame. She should have been the boy's grandmother or great-aunt, not his aunt.

This doesn't surprise me. There was a window of time when we had access to both sets of schedules. The original - which presumably came straight off the programmer's computers and showed exactly the same data as the old schedule. And then this new schedule - designed specifically for the new website. One thing I noticed was that the new schedule lagged behind the old schedule. It seemed to be updated afterwards, on a regular basis. If it is missing things at night, then that could mean the programmers made changes in the evening before they left, then the website schedule doesn't reflect those changes until it updates first thing in the morning. It is definitely two different systems though, one that they actually work on, and then the other playing "catch up" about half the time, which I never saw a reason for. Not as tight as it used to be. It could probably be refreshed more often.

With me it's the "little things" that drive me nuts about TCM. Like tonight, when their online schedule shows Payday playing at 9:45, when it's not, and when our TV program guide says it'll be playing at midnight. I've lost count of the number of times things like this have happened, and whoever posts the online schedule never seems to change it until it's too late. This mainly seems to affect the late night and overnight movies, but then those are usually the best movies TCM shows.

I don't remember a house or apartment in a Woody Allen movie that I didn't like, such as the beach house in Interiors, or the Houses' apartment in Manhattan Murder Mystery

I'm with KIKIKI here, sadly. Way back in the late 90's, my wife and I would visit my parents; and part of the excitement -- along with being with family! -- was that my parents had TCM aspart of their cable lineup. We would be able to watch all kinds of older movies for a couple of days. Then later on we moved to a town that had TCM on the cable package. Well, for many years the only channels we had on during almost any time of the day were either TCM or sports. Months would go by when TCM was our primetime channel alone. Now in our house, TCM is lucky if we watch two or three movies a month after the 6:00 time slot. Just don't find that many compelling choices anymore. Surely something has changed, and folks on these boards can cite all the stats about how many films from each decade are being shown when. Still, the fact remains that what was once the staple movie channel in our house now has shifted over to TVMovies and Grit for the most part. Sorry, but I can't really give more of an explanation for it. Hat's off, KIKIKI (a fellow TOM compatriot)!

As soon as I saw the trailer, I headed over here to see what you guys were saying. My initial reaction to the trailer-- it's wrongheaded. Voices are so important. Nicole Kidman doesn't capture the voice, the inflections, nor, evidently, did she even try to capture Lucy's distinctive accent. I concede many people wouldn't think this important. I do. The writing did not reassure me. Her little narration in the trailer had more the flavor of a 21st century up-and-comer-- the verging on "snippy" assertion of being "the biggest asset, in in the portfolio...." I'm a sucker for art direction, so I liked the midcentury costumes and interiors. Frances Fisher, in a past production, was more convincing a "Lucy" to me. A skinny "Fred Mertz"? In my opinion, the wrong sensibility took on this project, IF the trailer is a reliable indication.

LOVER COME BACK (1961)

Rita Moreno

Funny Face (1957) - Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn

The Blues Brothers (1980) That's a lot of police cars! Next: A minor character steals the show!

I figure she ran off and found the cops and told them what was going on, but opted not to return with them...why would she want to go back there? But I always thought it was she who alerted the police about the situation. Maybe she went home ( she must have had a home apart from Lee J . Cobb's "cottage" ) made herself a nice cup of tea, and collapsed into an armchair. Job well done.

Tom Hanks and Paul Newman in Road to Perdition Jane Darwell with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina Bruce Willis and Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool

I had seen "The Dark Past" before, and it was OK. It's easy to punch holes in a picture's plot after several viewings, but the flaws don't necessarily ruin a film for me. Ellen Corby's whimpering performance was close to 'pushing me over the edge' to the point I was almost rooting for Holden's gang to get away with their scheme. Then again, if I were getting paid decent money to put in a performance like that, I'd be the best scene-milker in Hollywood history! Lee J. Cobb can be over-the-top on some of his portrayals too, much like Rod Steiger, but I don't mind it when men or women play their roles like that. Oftentimes they make the picture more enjoyable rather than ruining it. In this film, Cobb was subdued and quite analytical as the police psychiatrist, and I think he sold that performance well, as did Holden as the cold-hearted killer with the tormented past. For this particular movie, I liked Holden's 'soft' buzz cut. I wish my hair was that thick in my younger days so as to pull off that look. Nina Foch was an underrated actress in my book. In "The Dark Past", I thought she looked more like Eleanor Parker in "Lizzy", or at least, could have passed for being Parker's sister.

I have. It was held up for release in America (a sure sign something's wrong) and came to U.S. theatres after Ladd's death. It's been years since I sat through the thing. Also known as Horacio, there are cuts of varying lengths of the film, I believe, in circulation, and it's a film that floats around in public domain hell. I tend to think of it as probably being the worst film of his career. I suppose it depends upon your mood when you see it as to how forgiving you can be, an aging, tired actor too old for his role looking uncomfortable as a Roman legionnaire. Ladd had a miserable time making the film in Yugoslavia with freezing cold conditions and walking off the set at one point (first time he ever did that) after he had been unpaid for 11 weeks by the Italian backers. Ladd knew it was stinker, afterward saying he'd never make a film under those kind of conditions again.

Wow was that John C Reilly? I've never seen him so young. Eh, moreso than Osborne - Eddie is immersed in noir, historically & emotionally. And to add what FXreyman said about "packages"....realize the distributor also dictates how often a movie must be shown. Some packages state in the 3 month rental, movie must be broadcast 4 times, for example. Or in the some cases, only one broadcast per rental. Let's compare TCM to, say, 60's sit-coms: there are a finite number of classic (let's say RKO) movies available, just like there are only 100 episodes of a TV show available. Once these are broadcast over & over, fans have "seen them all" and tire of watching. Now HOW do you inject new life into your channel to keep viewers?* In the case of TV, they stop airing one sit-com and switch to another. Fans grumble because they don't like Full House as much as Andy Griffith. Same here with old movies. I think it's natural & perfectly fine TCM adds newer movies to their roster when they fit "classic" sensibilities. We're lucky when there's a premiere because broadcast rights have finally been cleared on some obscure film. But until then, showing recents HUGO or BROOKLYN are OK with me, some never went to the theater to see them. And many good 70's/80's/90's movies are not shown free streaming, but only subscription or pay-per-views. *Colorful, moving graphics? I have yet to watch one of my newest recording to see what everyone's talking about.

Wednesday, October 20 8 p.m. The King and I (1956). etc., etc., etc.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I'm probably not the only person who would think the two absolutely WORST times to get a movie earworm AND the absolutely worst movie earworms TO get, would be when you're shampooing up your hair in the shower and you begin to imagine hearing the sounds shrieking violins, AND while you're out, say, bodysurfing at the beach and you begin to imagine hearing the sounds of a bass fiddle doing a little two note ditty that gets progressively faster. (...am I right or what here, people?!)

Sounds similar to the pilot episode of Night Gallery, titled "The Cemetery" with Roddy McDowall. Aired November 8, 1969 https://genresnaps.com/night-gallery-the-cemetery-s1p1/

Greed (1924) -- released nearly a year after Frank Hayes' death To Be or Not to Be (1932) -- released one month after Carole Lombard's death Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) -- released six months after Spencer Tracy's death Little Women (1949) -- released four months after C. Aubrey Smith's death The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) -- released six months after Robert Donat's death High Society (1956) -- released two months after Louis Calhern's death The Naked Edge (1961) -- released a month after Gary Cooper's death A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) -- released seven months after Buster Keaton's death The Thrill of It All (1963) -- released a month after Zasu's Pitts' death The Carpetbaggers (1964) -- released over two months after Alan Ladd's death The Thirteen Chairs (1969) -- released two months after Sharon Tate's death Enter the Dragon (1973) -- released a month after Bruce Lee's death The Crow (1994) -- released one year after Brandon Lee's death

Red Dawn (1984) Next: Blue Sky (1994) -- red + blue = purple

Joanne Woodward

Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) Next: vampire

Good job, Peebs! I'm glad that one is in the bag, or the can, so to speak. I, too, had to look up Sport Chalet, and by the time I did I was singing "Edelweiß", and it was all down hill from there.....

Blood on the Moon (1948)

That one didn't even need a movie!!

The Strange World of Coffin Joe (1968) Brazil/Dir: Jose Mojica Marins - Writer/director/star Marins returns for the third time as his character Coffin Joe. Here he introduces three unrelated stories. In the first ("The Dollmaker"), a group of thugs decide to try and rob a dollmaker's house, and then have their way with his beautiful daughters, only to learn a sinister lesson. In the second ("Tara") a lonely balloon-seller seeks romance with the corpse of a recently-murdered bride. And in the third tale ("Ideology"), one Professor Odez (Marins) is interviewed on a TV show, after which he invites the host and his wife back to his creepy mansion where he tries to illustrate that "love is dead". I was a big fan of Marins' previous Coffin Joe films, 1964's At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, and 1967's This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. This film has the same low budget, low-fi charm, but with an additional nasty sleaze, and a distinct paucity of ideas. The middle story was apparently filmed without live sound, and all music and sound effects are post-dubbed. The last tale is the most shocking and outrageous, and it may entice viewers of extreme cinema. (6/10)

My statistics ignore the time of day that movies are shown (I don't even keep track). Just months and years that they are aired. So it is possible for TCM to make major changes to their programming without it showing up as a change here. There are more titles overall, but the repetition of older titles seems to center around an increasingly more narrow group of movies (Bette Davis and Joan Crawford movies for instance). In addition there are a bunch of older movies that get absolutely no airplay recently. Last I have seen them was 5-10 years ago. Yes they are stinkers, but in general it seems they are showing more newer stinkers instead of older stinkers, and this is probably what some have been noticing. https://www.moviecollectoroh.com/reports/1)movies-only.htm In addition certain types of reports of mine, such as this one, stop tracking movies and other content made after 2017. This is due to IMDB changing their entire dataset at that time - to a newer but lesser format. I perhaps incorrectly presumed this wouldn't be an issue going into the future, being that it is a "classic movie channel".

The Snow Woman (1968) Japan/Dir: Tokuzo Tanaka - Effective supernatural drama about a young sculptor (Akira Yoshihama) who is spared an icy death at the hands of the title ghost, as long as he swears to never mention the incident to anyone. Later, the sculptor is tasked with making a statue for the new temple, and at the same time he meets a beautiful young woman (Shiho Fujimura) who becomes his wife. A crooked local official wants his friend to secure the sculpture job, and he also wants the young woman for himself. Despite the lack of surprise in the story (I've seen several variations of the same tale over the years), I enjoyed this movie. The acting is fine, particularly from Fujimura. The cinematography is very good, and the score sets a great mood. (7/10)

Yeah, I like that house too ANDREA. But as for TV houses, I'm kinda on the simplified lifestyle side of the fence, and thought the house ANDY GRIFFITH had in Mayberry wasn't too bad either. Sepiatone

MILLION DOLLAR RACKET (1937)

A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)

Third viewing for me of The Dark Past. It's ok, but will never be right up there in the pantheon of Great or even Pretty Good noirs. And as some have observed, it's more a "psychobabble" drama than a noir -- not that I get bogged down in labels. I always like William Holden, so that's a plus in this film. I also like Nina Foch. For some reason, I sometimes get her mixed up with Patricia Neal, even though they don't really look alike. Something about them both being good actresses and attractive women, both were in some fine movies, but never made it to "A List" Hollywood actresses -- maybe by choice. I rarely enjoy filmed plays; you can always tell, they're so static. Everything set in one room ( or two, as in TDP.) Maybe because I was already familiar with the story, I paid attention to little details I hadn't noticed on my other viewings. For one thing, I get a kick out of the set details, things like that ceramic dog that's used as a bookend. And for some reason I think it's kind of funny that despite the tension of the situation, it's sort of cozy, what with the chess game and the fire. A cozy fire while the escaped convicts hold everyone prisoner. They should have had home made soup and French bread to complete the scene. But then, the people who could provide the comfort food were locked in the basement. And what's up with that? How come the two servants were whisked away apart from everyone else? Of course, to give them the opportunity to escape unnoticed...at least, the stronger of the two did. I don't think they needed to present the other servant as so hysterical and annoying. I think the "strong" servant was Kathryn Card. The other servant, the whiney one, is not even credited on wiki, even though I have seen this actress many times, she was just doing what the script called her to do. Anyway, I just think it's funny that even the thugs were "classist" and separated the "help" from the rich people. Upstairs Downstairs. I do sometimes tire of all those "psychology" dramas so beloved by producers in the '40s and '50s. It all seems so dated now, and as others have mentioned, they make for very talky films. I also doubt that Holden's character, even if not shot down by the police ( as in Blind Alley) would have been allowed to live and undergo psychological counselling -- he shot that warden in the back, in cold blood, and I don't think claiming he imagined it was his father would have been an acceptable defence to a judge or jury. Too bad the kid was caught after he tried to escape...I was rooting for him. But at least the cook had better luck. Oh, one other "detail" I observed...One of the female guests ( Adele Jergens?) , the one who was flirting with another guest in front of her husband...how come she's dressed to the nines like that? Black evening gown, high heels, and jewellery, this in a country "cottage" supposedly for a relaxing weekend playing chess and hunting ( while, maybe not her ). The outfit seems so incongrous to the situation. Oh well, she did have to look good for the guy she was flirting with, even though the script makes him look weaker than her husband - that whole thing was like a little subplot, just a little extra something to think about.

I hope we see some comedy, because I think she was a very deft comedienne when the role called for it. I like Cactus Flower, but I adore Indiscreet with Cary Grant, in which she effortlessly handled the sophisticated wit and visual style. I'm also in the mood for Notorious again. I've mentioned it in a past thread but I think she did one of the best jobs of playing drunk of any actor I can remember. She didn't go for the usual slurring of words; it was as though her thinking and mental state were slurred and compromised. Brilliant.

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (1968) Japan/Dir: Yoshiyuki Kuroda - After grave robbers unwittingly release the demon Daimon (Chikara Hashimoto) from its captivity in ancient ruins in Ur, the villain travels to Japan and takes the place of a local samurai magistrate. Its vampiric ways upset the local spirits, or yokai, who team up to defeat the evil interloper. Also featuring Yoshihiko Aoyama, Hideki Hanamura, Hiromi Inoue, Mari Kanda, and Takashi Kanda. This sequel has little to do with the previous film, other than a few of the creatures are the same. The tone is much more juvenile, and the friendly, goofy yokai seem ready-made for children's television. The effects are still good, and there are some unexpected moments. This film is also known as The Great Yokai War, which is also the title of the remake from 2005 by Takashi Miike. (6/10)

I guess the BROADWAY ADAPTATION COULD BE CALLED "FOSSE OFFERINGS"...? or "BURNT FOSSERINGS"...?

Entrapment: Sean Connery & Catherine Zeta-Jones Dogville: Nicole Kidman & Lauren Bacall Silver Linings Playbook: Robert De Niro & Jennifer Lawrence Mr. Morgan's Last Love: Michael Caine & Clémence Poésy

He was also obnoxious on MARY TYLER MOORE! "I don't like Wonder Woman, she's too butch,"

And now on the news tonight, we'll probably see: "BREAKING! FOOTAGE EMERGES OF KEANU REEVES KICKING OLD LADY IN THE HEAD AT FAMED LA HOTSPOT "THE VIPER ROOM" in 1992!!!" Because that just seems how the world is now and all....

One of my favorite movies, hence why I wear a replica of the coin Harold made for Maude on a necklace 😄 The soundtrack is just too perfect, I literally cannot say any bad things about that movie so I'm glad yall favorite it as well.

Three Coins in The Fountain Next: Another 50s movie theme that became a big hit

Floud, Agatha -- Lucille Ball in Fancy Pants (1950)

I REMEMBER MAMA (1948)

In 2016, Lucille Ball had a Summer Under the Stars day. I partnered up with fellow message board poster CaveGirl to do a write-up about Lucy, which was posted on my blog. I will share it here...it was done in two parts: Part 1 Lucille Ball was born in upstate New York in 1911. Her father was a mining engineer and died when she was four. Her mother was a concert pianist that encouraged young Lucille in her thespian desires from day one. At the tender age of fifteen, Lucille was allowed to go to New York City to attend dramatic classes. But the instructor told Lucille she might want to consider another line of work. As a child, she had performed local plays and staged her own one-woman version of “Charley’s Aunt.” She also spent summers selling soap, being a soda jerk and selling hot dogs at an amusement park; all these occupations aided her in later show biz routines. When she arrived in New York City, her ambition propelled her to work as a model for Hattie Carnegie. However, she was soon injured in an auto accident, which temporarily sidelined her. Eventually, she came back with a gig as the billboard model for Chesterfield Cigarettes. In 1933 an agent for Sam Goldwyn plucked Lucille off the New York street to audition for an Eddie Cantor film called ROMAN SCANDALS. It would be produced in Hollywood, and the 22 year-old hopeful knew this was the chance of a lifetime. She travelled with friend and fellow hopeful Barbara Pepper to the west coast. In Hollywood, Lucille was personally chosen by Busby Berkeley to appear as a Goldwyn Girl. When the Cantor picture ended, Lucille picked up small jobs at Columbia Pictures. She received fifty dollars each week as a stock player and worked with various stars, including the Three Stooges. After those jobs were finished, Lucille became an extra at RKO, starting with ROBERTA. She was signed to a seven-year contract and went on to costar with people like Jack Oakie and the Marx Brothers, reaching a salary peak of $1,500 a week by 1940. She enjoyed lead roles in FIVE CAME BACK and DANCE, GIRL DANCE. And it was around this time that she met someone who would play an important part in the rest of her life– a guy named Desi. *** Part 2 Desi Arnaz was born in 1917 to a wealthy family in Santiago, Cuba. His father was the mayor of the city, but he had his property confiscated during revolutionary times in 1933. As a result, the family fled to Miami and Desi began life in the United States. Desi had musical talent, and while he was growing up in Florida, he was determined to find work in some of the more well-known bands. His first major opportunity came when he was hired by Xavier Cugat. A short time later, Desi wound up on Broadway in a stage production of George Abbott’s play ‘Too Many Girls.’ RKO bought the rights for a motion picture adaptation, and Desi was among the show’s original performers to be given a contract by the studio. After he arrived in Hollywood, he was introduced to Lucille, who was going to play the female lead in the movie. A quick courtship began, and soon they were wed. Not many gave their union much chance of succeeding. Continuing her upward career movement, Lucille was signed by MGM in 1942 and left RKO. In the mid-40s, she appeared in films like MEET THE PEOPLE with Dick Powell; and DU BARRY WAS A LADY with Red Skelton & Gene Kelly. Her hair was colored red for the role as Madame Du Barry, and it became her trademark. When her contract with Metro ended, Lucille started freelancing. In between movies, she appeared on the radio series My Favorite Husband with Richard Denning. Meanwhile Desi was out on the road with his band. Hoping to merge their careers, the couple worked with their agent to sell a television pilot to CBS. They performed a live version of the concept, borrowing the format developed in My Favorite Husband. Essentially, they were playing themselves– he was a bandleader, and she was the wife who wanted to accompany his act. A slight, yet important, change was made before the weekly TV series began. Lucy thought it would play better if the wife was more of a homebody– with no star status and everyday problems. In 1950 after refining the basic idea for I Love Lucy, Lucille and Desi formed Desilu Productions so that they could retain full control of their TV show. They also decided to film it on the west coast, not in New York as the network wished. Using the writers from My Favorite Husband– Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr.– the show was a hit and began its long and successful run. Though she would become more famous for her television work, Lucille Ball is still remembered for her work in numerous films. These include classics like ROBERTA; TOP HAT; I DREAM TOO MUCH; FOLLOW THE FLEET; STAGE DOOR; ROOM SERVICE; THE BIG STREET; MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND; THE DARK CORNER; LURED; and FANCY PANTS.

Terror Beneath the Sea (1966) Japan/Dir: Hajime Sato - Silly sci-fi action with Sonny Chiba as an adventurous reporter covering a story on the development of a new homing torpedo. During a test launch, the military discover a race of amphibious men. Unlike most Japanese movies of the time, this one was made with the international markets in mind. Japanese-language and English-language versions were filmed, and much of the cast is comprised of American and European actors. Some fun sets (obviously inspired by the James Bond films), color cinematography, and the charisma of leading man Chiba aren't enough to elevate the less-than-mediocre script and poor special effects. Also known as Agent X-2: Operation Underwater and Water Cyborg. (5/10)

I just ran across the youthful photo of Harold Lloyd below, and my mind immediately but unexpectedly flashed to...Ryan Reynolds. Do any other classic-era actors or actresses strike you as having uncannily similar-looking contemporary counterparts? They don't have to be especially well-known actors.