Swithin

No, I never had that pleasure.

I remember being titillated by this film when I was about eleven years old. So torrid, so tender!

Dandelions are actually not fragile, they are quite hardy and can withstand more trauma than many delicate flowers.

I remember when Tommy opened in NYC, at the grand and comfy Ziegfeld Theater. It was very popular. I was really eager to see it, so to be sure to get in, I went to a 1am screening. I wasn't terribly impressed. I like Ken Russell movies, and in general I like OTT camp, but sometimes Russell's films just don't work. All those composer films (as well as Valentino and Gothic) are just not campy enough, despite a few good scenes, and at times they just seem lame. However, there are Ken Russell films that I like very much, like Women in Love and The Devils, though it's been a while seen I've seen them. I love The Lair of the White Worm (1988), which I think is funny, exciting, and brilliantly done. I'd like to see more of Russell's TV work.

Willie Best was in The Smiling Ghost with Wayne Morris.

Constance Collier was in Rope with Edith Evanson.

Yes, Edith Evans was the definite Lady Bracknell, playing the role on stage since 1939. And because of the 1952 film (and audio recordings made earlier), hers is the interpretation that countless actresses have had to try to live up to. How they pronounce the immortal "Handbag" line is the biggest challenge. I've seen it on stage many times, including with Wendy Hiller, Maggie Smith, and Barbara Leigh-Hunt, all excellent. But Edith Evans will always be the definite Lady Bracknell.

Sara Haden was in She-Wolf of London with Jan Wiley.

Oh yes, many in the Bronx; the Manhattan one I mentioned was an outpost that flourished after the Bronx venues had largely departed. In the Bronx, we had a wonderful one on Mount Eden Avenue, a bit south of you, and on 175th Street. Though of course Fordham Road was the center of the universe. When we walked up to Fordham Road, which we usually did a few times a week, we went to Krum's, Jahn's, Fordham Custard, Merit Farms, Woolworth's, Grant's, Orange Julius, Gorman's for hot dogs, etc. There was a cafeteria near the Woolworth's at one time, either called the Garden or the Brighton.

Purists would say no, but Bronxgirl will weigh in. Also the seltzer should come out of a proper spritzer. If it doesn't come out of the fountain, it should come out of this:

I miss the old egg creams of yore. Ideally served in a paper cone placed in a metal holder, though a glass will do. The last place in NYC to serve them in the paper cone, that I know of, was a little candy shop with a soda fountain on East 79th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Ayllene Gibbons Next: Exasperated

Jessie Ralph was in Jalna with Peggy Wood.

Ernest Cosset was in The Light that Failed with Pedro de Cordoba.

"Finnegans Wake" -- sung in Passages from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1966) ["Lots of fun at Finnegan's Wake!"] Next: Song danced to at a wedding

Miles Mander was in Stanley and Livingstone with Richard Greene.

One of the best lines from What's Up Tiger Lily?, the first movie Woody directed (sort of): High Macha Of Rashpur: "Gangsters have stolen my secret recipe for egg salad. And not only that - they kill, they maim and they call Information for numbers they could easily look up in the book."

Of course if you're a Brit, all Americans are Yanks.

"The Broadway Melody" -- introduced by Charles King in The Broadway Melody of 1929. Sung in later MGM films as well. Here's the original: Next: Sexy song

Btw, Dargo, I'm not sure I was ever a fan of slapstick, even when I was a kid. I remember going to a double bill of Carry On Nurse and Make Mine Mink, when they came to my neighbourhood in the Bronx when I was about 12. I loved them, and that kind of humour! Also loved the Marx Brothers on TV, but for the puns, story and characters rather than the slapstick.

Well, maybe I was 13. It did run at that theatre for 52 weeks, so we may have seen it later in the run. I remember going to Radio City Music Hall with my friends around that time, and we were faced with a quandary. We wanted to pay kids' prices (under 12), but we were afraid they wouldn't let kids in without an adult. My friend and I went up to different windows to buy our tickets. When the box office lady asked his age, I heard my friend say: "Thir -- Eleven!" And yes Dargo, regarding IAMMMMW, I jest.

I saw the film at the Warner Cinerama on Broadway/47th Street in its opening release. It played there for a year. My friends and I had seen How the West Was Won at the Loews Cinerama on Broadway/51st Street a few months earlier, which we loved, and couldn't wait to see Mad World. We thought it was fun, but I don't think we were as wild about it as we were with our previous Cinerama outing. Perhaps Mad World was a bit too sophisticated for fourteen year olds! The New York Times review mentions the 192 minute running time, so I guess that's the print we saw.

Dickinson, Gilbert -- John Williams in The Young Philadelphians (1959)

"One Hour of Romance" -- Kay Francis in Confession (1937) Next: Sung in a movie directed by David Lean

Coincidence that you selected that song. I was going to use it for the previous post, as sung (dubbed) by Evelyn Ankers in The Mad Ghoul (a Universal non-musical). Didn't use it because I searched and discovered I used it twice before.