jdb1

All correct, except I was thinking of Darwell in "Chad Hanna." Award yourself a gold Star, and an honorary Oscar, if you have room on your shelf.

This reminds me of what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about Crawford. In Crawford's early days as a lead actress, Fitzgerald was in Hollywood as a script writer, mostly doctoring other people's scripts. He complained that it was impossible to write for Crawford, because for every nuance of emotion she had to express, she wanted the scene stopped so she could "compose" her face appropriately. He said that he therefore couldn't write anything subtle for her, because it became too expensive to have to shoot so many takes for just a few lines of dialog. Fortunately for us, she seems to have gotten the hang of it before too long.

I don't think I've ever really thought about it in those terms. I guess I just like what I consider a "good movie," and I think my criteria would encompass any genre. I like a smart script that makes sense, good acting, good pacing, well-set up and photographed scenes (they don't have to be beautiful, just appropriate), and a satisfactory ending. I think maybe in the sense you are talking about, I might prefer to see a particular actor in one type of movie rather than the other. I can't, for example, see Claudette Colbert as a hardbitten gangster's moll, or Thelma Ritter as Marie Antoinette. But then, that's just my personal preference; others may feel differently.

SusannO, that is a lovely sentiment, beautifully expressed. Many of us probably have similar feelings about our favorite performers, if we would just take a moment to think about it. Thank you for that.

Thanks Moirafinnie, you have piqued my interest in the 1936 version, which I've never seen. I agree with you about the Ford/Wayne version. Although I liked it, and thought Wayne was very good, I found the schmaltziness (good Brooklyn word) was sometimes agonizing to watch. I remember Chester Morris from early 50s TV - he had a face that I, as a nearsighted child, found easy to pick out - rather distinctive among the other "pretty boys" on the screen. I also always thought that "Chester" was a cool name. And, IMHO, just about anything with Walter Brennan in it is worth taking a look at.

No takers? Here are some other, other words: The phrase "the leader of the year" is to be taken literally, and refers to the title character of this movie. The Star of this movie (who is not the title character), was at the time the biggest Star in the world. In fact, the failing movie studio that employed this Star was restored to solvency as a result of the very successful series of films this Star made. (That's Star power.)

There's also the case of actors with differing accents cast as siblings. If one is British, it's usually explained away by saying they've lived in Boston, or that they had one British parent.

Sounds like AUNTIE MAME as in "Life is a banquet, and most poor bastards (not 'suckers') are starving!"

Can we add a vote for parents & children? When I was watching "Fear Strikes Out" a few weeks ago, I couldn't take my eyes off of the respective noses of Karl Malden and Tony Perkins. That discrepancy certainly strained the bonds of credibility.

I really liked him playing John Barrymore in "Too Much, Too Soon." I thought he was very effective and quite touching. I also thought, the last time I saw a scene from that film, that a good biopic of his life should be done (better than that made-for-TV one that is occasionally shown), and that Kevin Kline would be a good choice to play Flynn,. At least, the older Flynn.

How about that godawful coda ending of "The Bad Seed?" In the book and play it's the mother who dies, and the child who survives. And that tacked-on thing at the end, giving the naughty little darlin' a spanking. Cringe, cringe, cringe.

Since my last posting, I remembered hearing Liza Minnelli say that her Momma told her that the three "Oz" co-stars were not very nice to her, and were always trying to edge her out of the shots. Fortunately for us, Judy was one tough cookie, even at age 16. I suppose we can console ourselves with the thought that there are many, many of our favorites about whom similar stories can be told. For example, I detested Walter Brennan's ultra-conservative politics, but I loved his onscreen persona, and still think he is Hollywood's greatest character actor. We can forgive them a lot when they can make such onscreen magic.

This one sounds like "Penelope." The wife was Natalie Wood. From the mid-60s, I think.

Friends, I apologize for this lapse in good taste. This young person is apparently suffering from a surfeit of summer vacation, coupled with the after-shocks of a grueling rehearsal and theatrical performance schedule in the recent past. I hope you will continue to consider my entry. Here's hint: Two of the actors mentioned were cited by the Academy as best (not for this movie), but only one received the big award.

> Did Spandau Ballet do any of the music for this film? Cut that out, now. I know who you are. If you're not going to make a valid guess, go back to IMDB! Mom

> ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? > > Carousel (1956) > > Shirley Jones - Elmer Gantry (1960) > Gordon MacRae - By the Light of the Silvery Moon > (1953) > Barbara Ruick - I Love Melvin (1953) > Jacques d'Amboise - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers > (1954) > Mary Orozco - 3 Ring Circus (1954) > > Regards Wow, Metry - really, that's amazing - it all fits. Only, it's not the one I'm thinking of. Just goes to show how derivative Hollywood can be. Try something less 'colorful.'

After having tried to sit through that Doris Day thing earlier on Sunday and developing a nervous twitch, I watched a bit of "The Mating Game" with great pleasure. Debbie Reynolds is one of the few perky little actresses who can bubble and sparkle, and jump around with boundless energy, who doesn't make me want to retch. Her pairing with Tony Randall was an inspired one. I saw some Reynolds bio or other on TV a while back in which he had nothing but great things to say about working with her. I love that she's made a second and even third career out of playing Moms on TV. To me she is an ideal modern sitcom Mom. She was great fun in "Connie and Carla."

Have you heard? Gable's back, and Garson's got him!

Path, that is a really smart observation. Right now I can't come up with a single example because there are so darn many movies that just sort of "peter out" by the end. Well, I guess "The Lost Weekend" is an example - after all the horrible, lurid suffering the protagonist endures, he simply promises to be good, and we're suppose to believe it will all work out by tomorrow. I think part of the problem is that, just like writers of novels, the writers of films shop around a treatment that is essentially the first three or four chapters of the story, and they haven't really thought about tying up all the lose ends. I can't even remember all the times I've literally shouted out in frustration at the stupid, unsatisfying movie endings I've seen in my long, long, long movie-going career. Sometimes with classic films the problem can be that the story line had to be changed to meet censorship standards. "The Big Sleep" is something of a plot mess because the story was changed from a pornography ring to something I still can't quite figure out. There are surely hundreds of similar cases.

Sorry - nowhere near close. I like the idea of this description being a NL movie. Maybe we can develop it . . . . No **** jokes, though. Gotta go longer than NL on this one.

SHANE! COME BACK, SHANE!

Jack - what a bummer! I'm so sorry to hear about Mako - I feel like I've lost a friend. He was one of those character actors whose face is familiar, especially to TV viewers, since he did a great deal of TV work, but you never quite caught his name. I thought he was absolutely the tops in the film "The Hawaiians," which is an unfairly overlooked movie saga. It was much better than the first installment, "Hawaii." May he RIP.

I read a news item yesterday morning noting the anniversary of Morrow's fatal accident. I well remember how shocking and saddening it was. What an awful thing to happen to anyone! The "Twilight Zone" movie was on over the weekend, and I really couldn't watch Vic Morrow's sequence, knowing what happened during the making of that film. There's another thread here about which celebrity we look like, and someone noted that the older Neil Young gets, the more he looks like Jack Elam. I have thought, over the last few years, that the older Morrow's daughter, Jennifer Jason Leigh, gets, the more she resembles him. I think I have read that they were estranged -- do you know anything about that?

> I've been told in the past that I look like Pier > Angeli. Did they also tell you that you look like Marissa Pavan? She is Angeli's twin sister. I could never tell them apart -- good thing they were generally in separate films. I think looking like either one of them is definitely a "good thing."

BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING!