JHaft

Bravo! Osborne *should* do those intro's himself....or turn them over again to those guest hosts....but not to CRITICS! Critics are usually more concerned about criticism than boosterism, more about academics than art. Did you notice how Haskell kept harping on the history of the mirror bit? How it had been done twice before? An interesting point -- and one in which Osborne rightly added that it was an example where the imitation was actually better than the source material -- but at the end of the day, how boring! There are so many wonderful things about this movie to talk about....why go the academic route? At least Bogdonovich and Pollack both were enthusiastic about the movies they introduced. Their passion for the films was what drove the intros....not academic brinksmanship!!

Yeah -- I thought that was odd too about Margaret Dumont's name....!! Good grief.

Yeah, I hear you, but I just can't give TCM a pass on this one.....I'm sure Osborne likes the movie too, but again, why give it such a negative send off....? Anyway, I love what you said about Bank Dick....Never thought I'd read "Bank Dick" and "Bullit" in the same sentence! It is a great car chase. And Shemp Howard is a gem in that movie....

Heh heh. Yeah. But she almost sounded like someone out of the ante-bellum south! Her reason for why women don't like the Marx Bros was because they like clean houses and organized, neat rooms....HUH??!! Any woman born after Gidget should have taken offense.... Wonder how much editorial control Bob Osborne has over these interviews....Whether he actually permitted that crap to be aired.....? Did you catch Bank Dick? Another one of my faves. Despite the stupid intro, the line up was sensational last night......

You didn't imagine it. Osborne said that he wasn't crazy about Harpo and Chico solo breaks (presumably in movies like Night at the Opera, etc)... I agree with you that these musical solos have a charm about them...they're much easier to take than when Alan Jones breaks into song.....! All in all, though, it's just weird that they would pick Duck Soup as an Essential -- which it TOTALLY IS -- and then send it off like a lead balloon. I thought TCM was trying to bring new viewers to classic movies.....if you hadn't seen the movie before, their intro would have probably turned you off..... btw, I sent an email to Molly Haskell via her website to let her know that I was disappointed. Such an intellectual heavyweight should not resort to stupid generalizations like that...."Women don't like the Marx Brothers." I still can't believe she said that. And she had an expression on her face like she'd just sucked a rotten lemon.

How could Molly Haskell say, "Women don't like the Marx Brothers," in her intro of Duck Soup last night? Aside from the fact that this is a rank generalization, it's just plain wrong. All the more questionable is TCM's editorial discretion Why make this movie an Essential and then let Haskell go on the air and poo poo it?? My young daughter was viewing the movie for the first time last night and looked at me with puzzlement after Molly's remark.