jdb1
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Posts posted by jdb1
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I have indeed seen it, and it shows a young and slim Lorre. He was perfectly cast as the troubled, shadowy and murderous protagonist. His speech at the end of the film, a cry for mercy on a disturbed soul, is justifiably lauded. Hundreds of actors since have tried for the same effect with twitches, ticks and grimaces, but his performance remains a model of restraint and technique. He seems to have spent most of his career amplifying that role in various genres and situations, and there are very few who were better at it. "M" is actually a rather disturbing film in theme and execution, which certainly seems to have been its intent. In a way it strikes me as a silent, with sound. Some scenes are rather stiffly done and boxy looking, but when Lorre is on screen, you are in a completely different realm. There's no doubt, even at that early stage in his screen career, that you are looking at a star. Lucky for us someone in Hollywood recognized it as well.
You are correct, he was always instantly identifiable to me, even as a child, and I've never lost my affection for him. I have a postcard that I purchased in Greenwich Village years ago that shows him and Lotte Lenya (both looking impossibly young) entwined in a sort of romantic pose from some German Expressionist something-or-other they were in long, long ago. It's one of my favorite iconic photos. I would have loved to have met him, even just to say hello, to see if the charisma existed off the screen. From what I have read about him, it certainly did.
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jdb1
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Just goes to show how you can't trust the Internet. I was searching the wrong name, through no fault of my own, except for an unquestioning belief that if it's in writing, even on a balefully glowing screen, it must be true! Sorry, Metry. In the olden days, I recall that besides a large number of excellent movies, they had these things called "libraries."
JDB
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I don't know the first two you've mentioned, or the second lady, but George Chiles' name and face are familiar. What else have they been in that we might know?
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Metry, you confused me a little with your clues -- are you sure the character Dana Andrews played in BOOMERANG! became AG of the United States and not AG of New York State, DA of New York City?
An - Oh, you meant THAT mailman!
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THE BIG CIRCUS (1959)
Aaron Chwatt (or Chwast?) is Red Buttons
Laszlo Lowenstein is Peter Lorre
Marilyn Louis is Rhonda Fleming
Gilbert Roland is Luis Alonzo
Kathryn Grant is Olive Granstaff
Adele Mara is Adelaide Delgado
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jdb1
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I had the same experience about Howard as Ashley. At first I though he was such a dull cipher - what did the ladies see in him? Now, having a few decades behind me, and especially having read the book (if you haven't read it, you should - it's very good), I see that it was the right casting. Ashley represents the moribund Old South, set in its ways, genteel, effete and passive. Rhett and Scarlett are the new wave - ambitious and dynamic. It is Ashley and his kind who are 'gone with the wind.' They don't have the strength to stand up to the industrialization and modernization of the new America. They put up a fight, but don't stand a chance. And Rhett is the polar opposite of Ashley, always moving forward, even picking up and leaving Scarlett, uttering those fateful last words.
I trust we will all be watching the broadcast next week.
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jdb1
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How about Kim Basinger for Gilda? Or, you know, what's-her-name, in Namibia. I don't get a sense of too much fire from the younger actresses. For male lead - I don't know - most of the leads today are on the vapid side. We'd have to go a bit older - Bruce Willis? Harrison Ford? Antonio Banderas might do.
I've already given my opinion of Glen Ford here - I find him insufferably bland.
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Larry, today (6/26) is the birthday of the unique and talented Peter Lorre, one of my favorites, and one who could be considered, like Walter Brennan, Edw. G. Robinson, Thelma Ritter and some others, a "leading character."
Do you have any inside info on him? I understand he was quite the ladies' man, and I'm not surprised. I (I hope I'm a lady) find him quite attractive, in a quirky way.
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jdb1
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APOCALYPSE NOW?
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GM, how could we have forgotten our friend James Gleason as "The Moke?" It's coming back to me now. We had lots of "mokes" in Brooklyn!
TCM, please get a copy of this one and show it. It's a real "genre piece" - life in the slums of 1944 - a sort of precursor to "Guys and Dolls."
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That's it! You know, the image of this movie has been in my mind for decades since I saw it on TV. I remembered Cary Grant being in it, but I thought, no, that can't be, it's not his kind of film - but it looks like he was in it, after all.
I don't remember the title at all, even now that you've told it to me, but I still can hear the harmonica.
Thanks Fred!
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I don't remember if this was a movie or a play I saw on TV:
A boy (or boys) has a caterpillar in a matchbox. The caterpillar dances when it hears music. Someone plays "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" on a harmonica, and the caterpiller dances, to the amazement of the neighborhood. You never actually see the caterpiller in the box, but people pay to take a look. I seem to remember this as an old movie, rather than a something produced for TV. I think the action takes place in a poor, urban neighborhood. Thanks.
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Watched it again this evening. I still feel the tension of the nuns in that remote place. Sister Ruth's breakdown doesn't lose its impact on repeated viewings. And the climax at the bell, on the side of the mountain is still exciting, even after repeated viewings. This is what a classic should be -- you always find something new in it, every time you see it.
And I still LOVE Sabu. I think he was very, very good as the Young General. The brief scene at the river between him and Jean Simmons is really quite erotic, though subtly so. I can't imagine a European actor, in makeup, being any better.
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I believe they are supposed to be using their native language word for "Sister."
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Oh, I don't know: A lot of what I'm seeing now on TCM in this genre isn't all that hilarious, but I still enjoy seeing them for their historical value. If you are interested in classic film and in American culture in general, it's good to see a historical record of what people considered entertainment in the past. For me, it's especially interesting, because I live not far from a former Vitagraph studio in Brooklyn. The main building is now a girls' school, but there is still a very tall smokestack standing there that says "Vitagraph." I pass it every day on the way to work. I like to see the comedy shorts that I can speculate may have been filmed there. I think we're lucky to have a palpable record of the past, as represented by these old comedies. I do enjoy seeing them, even if they aren't the world's funniest.
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Hi Metry,
I've been busy this weekend, and haven't really had time to research your imponderables.
My first reaction to the mailman with a portrait in Phila. is
Mailman who might rate a portrait - Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin - Howard Da Silva
That's as far as I've gotten. Where are all the experts on this thread? I need you.
The Newbie
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I agree, Tergasso. Now I'm going uptairs, to do science.
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I vote for "Million Dollar Legs," one of the funniest, and earliest screwball comedies ever! Viva Klopstockia!
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So NOW I know who she is. I've seen at least one of those teen song & dance films of theirs. Thanks.
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Thanks, Kitsy, but I'm no expert. The short with Lucille Ball has been shown several times since the Stooges have been broadcast regularly by -- hmmm -- is it SpikeTV?
I wasn't a big fan of Joe Besser as a Stooge. I liked him better as the little boy Stinky on Abbott and Costello.
I know the answer to one of your questions: it was Dan Blocker who appeared in a Stooges short, under the name of "Don" Blocker. Our local daily Stooges TV show host, Joe Bolton (a/k/a "Officer" Joe Bolton), always pointed it out to us, every time that one was shown. I remember also that one of their shorts had the phrase "hoi poloi" in the title, and Officer Joe told us what that meant, so the next day we could sound really erudite in school. Thanks, Officer Joe.
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> Yes, they were Miss Withers. I would have loved to
> have seen that Crawford movie. If you think of the
> name let us know. Anything James Gleason is in I
> like and watch, sometimes just for him! I liked
> Keenan Wynn, too. When you were talking about him,
> Jesse Ralph popped into my head!
The Joan Crawford/Edna May Oliver film was "No More Ladies" (1935). Also starred, I think, Robert Montgomery.
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This is great, Larry, and sure, why not - we'd love to see photos so we can put the name to the face. I have seen listings in the credits for most of those you've named, but except for Dan Tobin, who did a lot of TV when I was younger, and Van Cleef, who was quite well known when I was a teen, I can't identify the others. Did Peggy Ryan dance?
Daddysprimadonna, thanks for the photos. This is very helpful for a thread like this, where we generally know the face, but not the name.
Keep 'em coming, friends. There are plenty more 'characters' - and you know you love 'em.
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Well folks, this is one of those riddles of language. The term "flapper" predates the 1920s, and several of the English language history and derivation websites I read regularly can't agree on just where it came from. It indicates a young woman of rather carefree and immoral behavior, and since after WWI more and more women decided that was the way they were going to behave, the term became the popular way to describe them.
I came across the term in a 1902 English novel that I read a few years ago, and it may be even older than that.
Betty Boop was already something of an anachronism when she came on the scene. But what would we do without her?
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> Well, yes, Eward G. definitely had IT. But, you're
> right, I don't think he was sexy. And, as far as I
> know he was only married once, then divorced and
> single for almost twenty years before he died. Gee,
> I wonder if he were all alone during those last
> years. I guess IT doesn't save you from loneliness.
>
> Norma was such a flirt! That is why I liked her.
> Dietrich, too! But, Marlene was maybe a little more
> subte (don't know if that is the exact word); Norma
> was right in your face! Loved her!
>
> Oops! Gotta run, back later.
GM, I don't think EGR was too alone in his bachelor years. He once came into my father's grocery store in Manhattan (late 1950s/early 1960s) with a very pretty young woman, who was very flirtatious with him. (I sold him an apple, a high point of my young life!) As for Dietrich, maybe the word you are looking for is "insidious," but in a good way.
'Private Screenings' Premiers
in General Discussions
Posted
I think it's about time attention was paid to Hollywood's child stars. (And not this scandal-mongering nonsense about drug-addled TV child stars on E, either.) Most were prodigiously talented. The Hickman and Stockwell brothers have been among my favorites my entire life. I will be delighted to see that segment.