coffeedan1927

Monday's question: What legendary film actress once had a morality clause in her contract so strict it even set the time she had to be in bed at night? (And she was a married woman, to boot!) Good luck!

Greetings, everybody! It's a rainy day in the Queen City, a perfect day for walking down the street to the Esquire for a day of movie watching. And I do mean a day -- sometimes it takes me that long to catch up with the latest independent releases. But first, let's get started with this week's movie trivia . . .

I know this one -- it's HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL (1952) starring Charles Coburn. This comedy is set in the 1920s, and Coburn is a millionaire trying to decide who to leave his money to, and he decides on the family of his first love. However, he wants to see what kind of family they are before he commits himself, so he rents a room from them, posing as down-and-out. To keep up the ruse, at one point he gets a job at a drug store soda fountain. Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie are in it too, and in a small part, James Dean is one of Coburn's soda fountain customers.

No, it's not Garbo. Since this year's YFCC winner will be scoring SOULS FOR SALE, I'm pretty sure it's the leading lady of that film, Eleanor Boardman -- especially after viewing the clips on the YFCC page.

It could be a case of mutual back-scratching. He has financed many of TCM's documentaries.

Have a happy birthday today, Lolite! You brighten up these boards! Thanks for your enthusiasm!

Jean Harlow was Star of the Month back in May of 2002, I believe (I may be a little off on this), so it may be a while before you see her there again.

I have the Alpha Video DVD of this movie, and the print is EXCELLENT. The detail and depth of field are amazing. I don't see how you could get any better, and this DVD lists for only $6.95 -- a steal! Compare this to the Criterion DVD, which lists for $24.95, where the only extra on the disc is Bruce Eder's audio commentary. If you can live without that, and the print quality is all that matters to you, the Alpha DVD is definitely the way to go.

Thanks, bracken -- I had forgotten about that. I think THE RETURN OF THE KING may be tied with TITANIC and BEN HUR as far as Oscar wins are concerned, but I don't think it broke the record.

Didn't know this was down here -- I answered it earlier without knowing it! TITANIC (1997) and BEN HUR (1959) share the record with 11 Oscar wins each, out of 14 nominations for TITANIC, and 12 nominations for BEN HUR.

TITANIC (1997) and ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) share the record, with 14 nominations each. Of those, TITANIC won 11 -- tying with BEN HUR (1959) for most Oscar wins -- and ALL ABOUT EVE won six. Now tell Nicole to put on her little black dress . . .

Just a footnote to Mongo's fine profile of Allen Jenkins: In a way, it was fitting that Allan Jenkins's last role was in the 1974 version of THE FRONT PAGE, because he had played the part of Endicott in the original Broadway production of the play in 1928. And the understudy for the role of Hildy Johnson (played by Lee Tracy) was the guy that Jenkins would support in so many Warner Brothers pictures -- James Cagney.

How can you care less than someone who frankly just doesn't care?

No, it wasn't a train, and it wasn't a scratch. I got this from an interview with Pat O'Brien in Classic Images years and years ago: When the final scene of THE FRONT PAGE was about to be filmed, Howard Hughes knew there was going to be some censorship problem with the end of the play, but he desperately wanted to save the last line. So he tied a string to the tab key of one of the typewriters on the set, and had a stagehand pull it when Adolphe Menjou said the critical line, causing the carriage to zing over, ring the bell, and slightly obscure the line. It sounded pretty good in theory, but was hell in practice. O'Brien said the stagehand couldn't get the timing down at first, and kept pulling the string after Menjou's line. But after something like 80 takes, they finally got it right, as you see it in the film. If you can bear to watch the scene again, stoney, watch the typewriter to the right of Menjou as he says the line, and you'll see the carriage move.

Don't bust a gut, brackenhe. They did have high-heeled sandals with buckles in ancient Rome. I saw some examples on a field trip to one of the Cleveland museums (art or natural history?) back in my high school days, when they had an exhibit on everyday life in ancient Rome. In some styles, they wouldn't look out of place today. And I don't know how you define a skyscraper, stoney, but I learned on the same field trip that buildings of 5-6 stories (particularly what we would recognize as apartment buildings) were also not uncommon in ancient Rome. There were a few that were even higher. Whatever his other faults might have been, Cecil B. Demille was a real stickler for accuracy. I remember especially one clip from Kevin Brownlow's documentary last year, where Demille is upbraiding one of his assistants during the filming of THE CRUSADES for "letting that woman (extra) on the set with a 1935 haircut."

Allow me to contribute another two cents to the IDs on this thread: The lady being tied to the railroad tracks following NANOOK OF THE NORTH is undoubtedly Mabel Normand, and I believe the film is BARNEY OLDFIELD'S RACE FOR LIFE (1913). The "unknown woman" following Rin Tin Tin is Clara Bow, but I can't place the film . . . And lastly, following DR. NO, that's Audrey Hepburn in Gregory Peck's pajamas in ROMAN HOLIDAY, not LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON.

I'll guess for another clue -- SUCCESS AT ANY PRICE?

On January 23, Bill Cosby will be introducing four films as TCM's first Guest Programmer of the month. The four pictures he chose are MONSIEUR VERDOUX with Charlie Chaplin, THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937) with Joan Crawford, STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. with Buster Keaton, and THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE with Humphrey Bogart. Should be a fun night. Now, how about you? What four films would you choose for an evening's entertainment on TCM? Would you choose the work of a certain actor, a favorite theme, or just four of your favorites? And how would you help Robert Osborne introduce them?

What? Adolphe Menjou typecast? Surely you jest, Path! Or maybe you just haven't seen a lot of his movies . . . This was the same guy who could play Marlene Dietrich's rich suitor in MOROCCO, the unscrupulous editor Walter Burns in THE FRONT PAGE, Gary Cooper's superior officer in A FAREWELL TO ARMS, the bookie "Sorrowful" Jones in LITTLE MISS MARKER, an eccentric Russian producer in GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935, a drunken Shakespearean actor in SING, BABY, SING, a movie studio head in A STAR IS BORN, and Rita Hayworth's fiery father in YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER, just to name a few besides the ones you mentioned. Granted, Menjou tended to play men of the world, but a gangster can be a man of the world as well as an aristocrat, and Menjou knew the difference. That's what makes his performances so stimulating. He knew his way around. Take, for instance, his work in the movies THE MILKY WAY and GOLDEN BOY. He plays fight promoters in both films, and manages to make both performances distinct -- one comedic, one dramatic. But he always makes the performances real. You don't doubt him for an instant in either picture. One of Menjou's directors (Fred Niblo, I think) put it this way: "Menjou's not young, he's not old, he's just mature." Or, to put it another way -- he's timeless.

What I love about the annual "TCM Remembers" tributes is the way the actors' actions in the various clips are juxtaposed with the words in the background song. It makes the tribute that much more poignant.

TCM doesn't have a single Star of the Month for January -- they have several. January's composite SOTM spotlight is on Canadian actors.

Okay, I can take it . . . I'll be 47 on December 11. Happy birthday to all of us December babies! By the way, how many of us have ever gotten "combined" birthday and Christmas presents this time of year? Show of hands?

I just pre-ordered this set from Columbia House. I can't wait! I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the restored, uncensored PUBLIC ENEMY from the original negative that was discovered in Great Britain. This film has been edited for public consumption as late as 1953, and it's going to be a real treat to see it in its uncut glory.

The biggest surprise for me this past Sunday was seeing Joseph Jefferson III in RIP VAN WINKLE. I remember thinking that this actor was born when Andrew Jackson was president, and he's still capable of entertaining us in his most famous stage role 175 years later! How exciting! What a modern miracle! I also thought I'd share this story of another of Jefferson's lasting legacies: When his friend and fellow actor George Holland died, Jefferson took it on himself to handle the funeral arrangements for Holland's bereaved family. He visited church after church in New York, but none of them wanted anything to do with actors. He had just made his penultimate church visit when a pastor told him, "There is a little church around the corner that might get the job done." "Then God bless the little church around the corner," Jefferson replied. That church, the Church of the Transfiguration, not only gave Holland a funeral, but buried him as a member of their parish. By that time, Jefferson's quest on Holland's behalf had attracted national attention, and ever since then, the Church of the Transfiguration has also been known as The Little Church Around The Corner -- and it has never closed its doors to any members of the acting profession. Jefferson's selfless act was later memorialized in one of the church's stained glass windows. It shows Jefferson in his Rip Van Winkle costume, his arm around a shrouded George Holland, escorting his friend into the presence of Jesus Christ. I think Jefferson and Holland are the only actors to be honored in this fashion.

But getting back to the line from THE GRADUATE . . . McGuire's advice to Benjamin was not new or novel in 1967, the year THE GRADUATE was released. Remember the scene in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE where Sam Wainwright is advising George Bailey to invest in plastics? By that time, several fortunes in plastics had been made, unmade, and made over again. The plastics industry has always been susceptible to boom and bust cycles, and continues so to this day. I guess it ties in with the fads plastic has been attached to. I imagine that, when 1967 audiences heard the line, they probably laughed while rolling their eyes and thinking, "Oh no, not THAT again!"