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jdb1

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Posts posted by jdb1

    Gallery of Characters

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    > My wife says Dane Clark was not a character actor,

    > but rather a supporting actor. Is there a

    > distinction?

     

    Yes, I agree with your wife. We think of character actors as those who can play a wide variety of types, or at least types very different from their actual personas, whereas supporting actors are generally in the same parts each time, only without top billing. Then there are those who can be both character actors and have supporting (i.e., co-star or star) status, like Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni and Walter Brennan. I think we've posted photos of the three actors you showed, but the more, the merrier. This thread honors both character and supporting players, some of whom would be hard to categorize otherwise.

    Joan Crawford

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    > <<"The thick, black "Crawford" eyebrows with the

    > blonde hair. Yipes!">>

    >

    > You must not have been watching too closely if you

    > thought Joan was a blonde in this film!

    >

     

    So what color was her hair supposed to be? It was certainly shades and shades lighter than her eybrows. I thought she looked particularly unattractive in this movie. Her clothes made her look rather squat - the costumer didn't do much to minimize her small stature, especially since the actors around her were so much taller. I think she looks a lot better in other films from this period.

     

    Remember that this film was meant to be shown on a big screen, so Crawford's eyebrows would have looked huge to the audience. It's not a look I find youthful, or particularly attractive. It calls attention away from the eyes themselves. But I suppose Crawford wanted to look distinctive, and in that she succeeded.

    "In the Spotlight"

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    >

    > I loved that show, way back when cable was really

    > cable and one of the channels SHOWED gems like I

    > Married Joan and The Molly Goldberg Show. Look how

    > far they've come...not.

    >

    > But I liked Joan Davis immediately. I found her as

    > talented and funny as Lucille Ball, and always

    > wondered why her show didn't get as far. She also

    > didn't do the requisite waaaaaaaaa that was necessary

    > for the MCPs of the time. Joan, if I am recalling

    > correctly, was ahead of her time in her feminism

    > wasn't she?

     

    Dolores, I liked Joan Davis too, but are we remembering the same "I Married Joan?" If your cable company carried it, then you've seen it much more recently than I have. I remember the show as being much more slapstick than "I Love Lucy," and not nearly as clever in dialog. I remember Joan (Stephens, was it?) as seeming rather desperate in everything she did, and I recall the show as having Jim Backus do very little but come on camera occasionally to say "Now, Joanie," and to treat his wife like a backward child. The one episode I remember best is Joan trying to make oxtail soup, not realizing the recipe she had was meant to serve an army. And I think she fell into the huge pot. Did she ever stand up to her husband? I can't remember her ever doing so un-passive-aggressively, but then, it's been a very long time since I've seen that show.

    Gallery of Characters

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    Mongo, that's the guy, all right. I have a memory of Brasselle on his summer-replacement TV show singing a song about a wheel goin' round and you don't know what a good love you've got until you lose it, or something like that, and me thinking as I watched it "Wow, he sings like Sonny Bono, only not as good!"

     

    I also recall that someone or something back in the day had it in for him and his lack of charisma (and talent, most likely) -- maybe it was Mad Magazine? But ol' Keefe just kept plugging away. He was the 50s-60s equivalent of an "American Idol" aspirant, I suppose. "No matter what Simon says, I *KNOW* I'm talented!" He managed to get a foothold on the ladder to stardom, but he just couldn't climb very high without self-destructing. There's a lesson there, somewhere.

    Trivia Quiz for Beginners

    in Games and Trivia

    Posted

    Thanks for the compliment, Dan. However, my point yesterday was simply that it might be better if you put your "lines from" and "silents" questions on their own threads for devotees of same, and leave the other existing threads for us wonks to pursue. That way, solvers will be cued as to which threads will best suit their talents.

     

    (By the way, I got that "tough" question of yours primarily because I'm old enough to remember the days of non-color TV!)

     

    Long live the Trivium!

    Gallery of Characters

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    Thanks, Chris for your birthday wish.

     

    And yes, Dolores, the Janet Waldo episode of Lucy was the one about the infatuated teens. You can hear the same script, with the same actors (except for Desi) in Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband". I heard it on Old Time Radio online. Waldo specialized in "teen" voices (as did Crenna), and was the voice of breathless teenager Corliss Archer on the radio show "Meet Corliss Archer" There was a very early TV version of same that I have very dim memories of. Waldo also did numerous cartoon voices, including on "The Jetsons." Now, was she the wife or the daughter? The daughter, I should think.

    Trivia Quiz for Beginners

    in Games and Trivia

    Posted

    Dan, I wish I could provide some better-educated guesses for you, but it seems that I, like many of our fellow trivians, simply don't memorize the lines of every film I've ever seen, and I'm afraid I'm not as well-versed as I should be in silent movie lore. I haven't had the opportunity to see very many silent films - I wish I had.

     

    On another thread here, you mention that your question involves a contemporary movie (earlier than "My Favorite Year" I think). See, there's the thing - I don't even see most movies until they are oldies and are shown on TV. There aren't very many first-run movie theaters left in Brooklyn, and those that are still there are miles from where I live (Brooklyn's pretty big, remember).

     

    It seems that every thread here has become a "lines from movies" thread. I'm happy to be learning things about movies that I didn't know before, but I don't have hours and hours to devote to research in answering a Trivia question. Since we're not getting it after days and days of prodding, maybe a different tack needs to be taken? Like a different sort of question? Just a thought. Sorry I'm not smarter at this.

    JDB

    "The Entertainer" - Why should I care?

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    I think vallo's hit the mark; the difference between Olivier and Courtenay. The former is an attention-grabbing posturer, and the latter is a thoughtful and intelligent portrayer of the human condition.

     

    I can't abide Olivier, and I'm constantly amazed at all the fuss about him. I think his performance in "Rebecca" may be the absolute worst screen performance ever given by a "major" star. It's all grimaces and shoulder shrugs. The only way he seems to know how to express emotion is to speak with increasing rapidity and volume.

     

    Courtenay, on the other hand, has seemingly modest, but amazing screen presence and really knows how to reach and hold a viewer. His performance in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is probably one that most got to me as a young person, and I saw thousands of movies during that time period. Did anyone see a "Masterpiece Theatre" broadcast of about 20 years ago with Courtenay called "Me and the Girls?" It was one of the two most affecting performances I've ever seen on TV. Absolute gold.

     

    Oh, and Roger Livesey - love that voice.

    Joan Crawford

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    Did anyone see "Queen Bee," which was broadcast this past weekend? The dialog was so dumb and turgid - I don't think anyone of lesser caliber than Crawford could have made it work, and she did just barely.

     

    The thick, black "Crawford" eyebrows with the blonde hair. Yipes!

    ERNEST BORGNINE

    in Information, Please!

    Posted

    Does anyone know what's become of Zohra Lampert?

     

    A NYC stage and screen actress, rather eccentric in acting style, but always interesting. She did a lot of TV work in the 60s and 70s. I always liked her. In the recent past, she did TV commercials for Goya, which makes canned products for Latino cuisine (and at that time wasn't as big as it is now). Did those commercials play outside of New York? "Goya. Oh boy-a!"

     

    Has she retired?

     

    Message was edited by: Judith, who forgot that commas never go in front of parentheses.

    jdb1

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