jdb1

Thanks for the notice on the new Lorre book. I'd be very interested to read it; he had quite a career and life.

That may be so - I've seen a great many Widmark (westerns and otherwise) films on the weekends over the last few months - maybe I was tuned to Fox. He is a favorite of mine as well. I recall seeing "Pickup on South Street" in the recent past.

Trigger. Especially unsaddled, rearing on a hilltop. Roy Rogers would have been just another yodeler without him. Maybe we should put Trigger on the "Breathtakingly Beautiful" thread as well.

SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE: I know that I have seen this, somewhere, in some form. Of course after all these years, I can't remember where - film, excerpt on TV . . . . . I do recall being absolutely blown away by Ray Bolger's dancing - it made me a fan of his for life. He did have some sort of variety show in the 50s, maybe one of those "summer replacement" shows, and I remember his dancing there as well. What you see in the few films of his that are broadcast these days doesn't begin to represent his talent. He was a strong, graceful and balletic dancer, much like Gene Kelly, but moreso. He didn't have that muscular, macho thing going that Kelly liked to use (one exception to that is Kelly's "Chocolat" scene in "An American in Paris," wherein he dances much more in the Astaire style). Not that I don't love Kelly, I do. But Bolger was a beautiful dancer, and he is now forgotten, save for playing the Scarecrow in You-Know-What, and most his his dancing there was cut.

In my opinion, Hunter was quite good in everything he did. He didn't have the career he should have had. As often happens, he may have been held back by his looks, with producers fearing he wouldn't be taken seriously. From what I've read about him, he also had a rather ineffective agent (who was his second wife), who didn't handle his career very well. Now I'm getting sad, thinking about the stupid household accident that led to his untimely death. Sigh.

MrWrite, apparently I misunderstood "you're next". You can have my question back. I'd rather guess than compose, anyway. I'll take that answer to my grave. Message was edited by: jdb1

Hunter as Jesus: I don't think the producers thought it was miscasting - I think they were going for ethereal, but manly. A tough combination. I'm a great fan of Von Sydow, but I couln't figure out why he was playing Jesus - weird.

> Ashley was,IMO,a symbol of the Old South that just > couldn't change with the vicissitudes of fortune-he > was all the graciousness,the ease,the hospitality,and > the insularity of the Old South,like the oaks of > Twelve Oaks-he couldn't bend,he had to break. He'd > have been OK in life if the war hadn't changed his > whole way of life,the only life for which he was bred. To GarboManiac: We're not alone. DPD gets it about Ashley. DPD - have you seen our thread on "Essentials?" That's what we've been discussing. There's a lot more to the book/movie than pretty people in pretty pictures. If you like, we'll pick it up there.

Hmmm . . . . What do these actors have in common: Eduardo Ciannelli Rex Ingram

I think we characterized him as "dreamy" back then. Call it what you will, he was a honey.

ON BORROWED TIME. We read that play in junior high, and I still sing that song, "Aunt Demetria's a PIS-mire" (to the tune of "Glory, Glory Halleluiah"), just the way Bobs Watson did. I wish I could sing it in front of you, to have the experience of someone not looking at me sideways when I do. Message was edited by: jdb1

Marco, is not the Girl Hunt Ballet in BANDWAGON a take on the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue ballet from ON YOUR TOES? Maybe 'rip-off' would be a better noun, only they didn't say that back then.

Here's a topic: Who do you like of the character players who were very often cast as gangsters, or ganster-like? I'm very fond of Mike Mazurki, Alan Jenkins and Edward Brophy. And don't forget the molls.

I've been patiently waiting for someone to mention him, but no one yet has. So let's all take a moment to contemplate the thought of: JEFFREY HUNTER, with his shirt off, in "In Love and War." Mamma mia! Or in anything, for that matter, with or without shirt. He was a man for whom the word "beautiful" was entirely appropriate.

How cute. An amah name. As far as I know, she is still with us. Do you have any more information?

The younger daughter character on "Roseanne" reminded me of Lynn's style. I was thinking about Fields last night, and I recalled seeing on a TV bio of him (probably on the Biography Channel) in which it stated that his cynical asides were exactly like those of his mother, who used to sit on the porch of the boarding house she owned making caustic comments about her boarders and the passers-by under her breath. As I recall, he also looked very much like her, if you can imagine such a thing.

These are interesting observations. I think, in Fields case, that the Micawber character could be interpreted as very Fields-like, so the fit was a good one. I believe Charles Laughton was originally slated to play the part. I agree about Greenstreet. He was no Edmund Gwenn, ho-ho-ho. I remember Googie Withers - she did a lot of the British dramas you see on public TV. I think she was in "The Lady Vanishes" and that ghost-story anthology film - is it "Dead of Night?" "Googie" seems to me to be such a typical British public school nickname, like "Stinky" and "Dodo" and "Piggy."

Moive, we have a thread going on the Stooges in "Your Favorites." We'd love to hear your thoughts on the boys. And we all love Larry.

I was able to make the change to make my new email address the default address. Thanks very much.

What about W.C. Fields? Very funny, of course, but the asides were usually highly cynical. Diana Lynn and Virginia Weidler could tear a few holes in the proceedings as well. Cary Grant was also very good at cynical asides, and many of his comic roles as he got older were very cynical characters. Let's not forget Ned Sparks, always talking out of the side of his mouth in that deadpan voice, and always unhappy about something.

Now I remember a scene - in a saloon, I think - Jocko falling down, going head over heels, and springing back up. To tell you the truth, the supporting players of the Stooges and of Abbott & Costello (also on afternoon TV way back when) sort of run together in my head. They all wore striped double-breasted suits with big padded shoulders (men) and gaudily flowered dresses, large earrings and platform heels with ankle straps (women). The exception was A&C's Hillary Brooke - very elegant, and how did she wind up there, I wondered? I'll have to review the cast lists of the Stooges shorts to see if any names ring a particular bell with me.

The recent TV movie about the Stooges, showed the sound effects man right on the set with them as they filmed. I don't know if that was the method in older movies - creating the effects right there and then refining them in editing. I suppose it's a carry-over from radio, having the sound effects right there. It would certainly account for the split-second timing - at least from the perspective of the actors, who could hear the effects as they worked. This is one of the things about the Stooges that I have come to appreciate much more than I did when I was a kid. Then, it was just broad comedy and loud noises being made by a group of portly, middle-aged men. Now, I can see the artistry at work, as well as get the more subtle verbal humor I missed the first time around.

I can't agree - I liked TOWER OF LONDON a lot. It was like a Classics Illustrated comic of the behind the scenes royal intrigues of the War of the Roses (the medieval one, not the contemporary movie of that name). I hope you get a chance to see it again and re-assess. Karloff and Vincent Price were particularly good. I have seen CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, and no matter what the cinema pundits say, I can't warm to it. It's a mess. Poor Orson had to make his later films on a virtually non-existant budget, and it shows. There are gleams of what might have been in it, but not nearly enough. I don't know enough about the others. I think I've seen the older MALTESE FALCON, but if I did, it made no impression on me.

For you and me, maybe, but I don't think actors coming out of burlesque or vaudeville thought of it that way. Physical comedy is an art, and there are plenty of artistes out there still getting knocked about. It seems to me that Moe was something of a workaholic, and he adored being a Stooge, and never wanted to stop, and he was probably an exacting taskmaster in the art of Stoogeing. And how about Larry? He was always my favorite, with his sleeves coming down to his fingertips, and his steel-wool hair, so out of place in that era. He was the fulcrum that balanced the other two.

I'll pass on this one, thanks.