Swithin

I agree, Danny Kaye was a great star. And don't forget Johnny Weissmuller and Beatrice Lillie, who died on January 20.

*Went the Day Well* is an excellent British film about the war made during wartime.

What kind of sedatives? Please be specific. I'm sure you have lovely things available up in Canada that we can't get so easily in the States!

I'd love to see The Deerslayer, it was my favorite novel as a kid. Has the film been shown on TCM?

Just watched the Phantom of Crestwood and enjoyed it immensely! What a hodgepodge -- part Sherlock Holmes, part Old Dark House, part Poe (those portraits!), part German Expressionist --did you follow that CRAZY camera? I was expecting George Zucco to pop out at any moment. I love those old, old mystery/comedies, with strange houses, hidden passages, etc. I did not recognize Anita Louise, in a very early role. And there were hints that did show that the film was pre-code. And I liked those peppermints -- a nice touch!

So many great films to choose from! Without giving it much thought I would say Casablanca and Mrs. Miniver. A favorite line from Mrs. Miniver, said by Dame May Whitty as Lady Beldon: "I hate war, because it gives little people the chance to do something important!"

Yes, he seemed confused -- and was confusing, they way he read from his card. In the stage musical of Drood, based on Dickens' unfinished novel, they let the audience vote on the killer, just before the end. I saw it twice and voted for John Jaspers both times, because I wanted to be true to the 1935 movie of Drood, in which Jaspers (Claude Rains) is the killer. Looking forward to watching the rest of Phantom of Crestwood later today!

Thanks Fred, that explains it. I wonder if that's where they got the idea for the modern-day stage musical of The Mystery of Edwin Drood -- letting the audience choose the killer !

You don't mean Curse of the Werewolf, do you? Reed doesn't have a sister in it, but a mother who was thrown into prison where she was raped by a crazed person. The brutality of the rape somehow caused Reed to become a werewolf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_the_Werewolf

I did a job which took me to Romania about 18 years ago and sadly found that discrimination against Gypsies persisted there at that time, although they are allotted a certain number of seats in the legislature, as I recall. Ewan MacColl, the great British singer/songwriter (husband of Pete Seeger's half-sister Peggy), wrote a sort of radio opera called "The Travelling People," about the Romany/Gypsies in Britain. It's quite a beautiful work, with many good songs. I think it has been fairly well established now that the Gypsies as an ethnic group came from India. (Ain't DNA testing grand?) Here's a good version of the title song from MacColl's work, sung by the Pogues, though I prefer MacColl's own recording of it (his lyrics are easier to decipher):

Mark, I recorded *The Phantom of Crestwood,* then watched a few minutes of it. It looks promising, but I didn't quite understand that bit at the beginning -- the RKO guy with the announcement, before the credits. He seemed so unprofessional for a real studio spokesman, I was wondering what's that all about? But I really like the way the film opened and look forward to watching it later. I also liked the one-line description my cable company gave to the film: "A blackmailing vixen is murdered."

I'm waiting for two foreign films with dubbing, rather than subtitles: *The Black Pit of Dr. M* ; and *Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow*. Normally, I eschew dubbing for foreign films, which should be subtitled (and I like seeing foreign and silent films on TCM), but those two films have particularly wonderful dubbing! I long to hear that line again, in English, from The Black Pit of Dr. M, perhaps the greatest of Mexican horror films: "Yes it's me. I came back in Elmer's body." It just doesn't work subtitled, and it's translated differently anyhow.

To quote BigFaceSmallRazor: "Okay, apparently this is a hard one. I'll help this thread out:" *She Done Him Wrong* Next: magazine cover

To get slightly-but not fully -- off topic, the second show I ever saw, as a young teen, was Funny Girl with Barbara Streisand. I thought she was great. I've also enjoyed her recordings. But when I see her now, playing stereotyped, over-the-top roles in the broadest of mediocre comedy films, I wish she would have just had the sense to stop acting a long time ago.

Interesting points. Of course Rodgers & Hammerstein had personal experience with Shirley Jones in increasingly responsible roles on stage before the film of Oklahoma! I think the point I am making (and you sound like an open-minded person, as I hope I am), is that you might consider that Deanna was in the right place for herself at the right time with her films, and got out when she knew that she might not have been able to perform up to that standard as a more mature actress/singer. There are famous film stars who SHOULD have said NO when producers came calling with stage suggestions. Obviously it's financially advantageous for the producers to produce a show with a film star. But unlike some others, Deanna may just have realized that it wasn't right for her. At least, that's a possibility.

Markus, with respect, you sound like you are going beyond the objective stage to the "she can walk on water stage!" Film experience is not so important; there's always someone behind the camera who can tell you what to do. From what i've read, Durbin's acting was nice for a sort of ingenue/youthful role; her voice was considered "light." I think the other side of your hagiography (with respect) was that she may have realized her talents were suited to youthful singing roles on film, and she let it go at that and got out at the right time, thus preserving the memory of what she did best. Producers have often sought out movie stars initially; occasionally either the producer or the star then has the sense (hopefully) to know whether it really makes sense. James Joyce has a line in his story "The Dead," part of an interior monologue spoken by Gabriel (by Donal McCann in John Huston's brilliant film of The Dead : *"Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age."* That other world meaning, in this case, retirement!

Regarding stage possibilities for Ms. Durbin, there really is no evidence that she could have done that. It requires a totally different sort of discipline, and she may have known that perhaps it wouldn't suit her. She seemed to go straight to films, didn't she, as opposed to the solid stage training and base that other actors had.

Have a good time at the swimming hole! "Take ten terrific girls, and only nine costumes..." (That's not a clue, but a song from Minsky's ).

How about *The Atomic Cafe* ?

(Sorry, Flash, it wasn't for me to comment on whether you were right or not, I was making an additional guess of my own, and also using it as an excuse to post the tagline from Motel Hell, since you mentioned it.)

Call me cynical, but yes, I think!

Regarding the "admin watch" thing, don't you think posters in that category, or those who are banned, might just come back with different names? I've noticed, over the years, that when posters are restricted, new "faces" pop up with the same writing patterns and argument styles.

Oh my goodness, you naughty Miss W. (baby), coming back after an absence and scolding the Yanks! I like both versions. I'm a big Anglophile and spend alot of time in the U.K. For years, the common opinion (including on this board) seemed to be that the Sim version was preferred. I have a softer spot for the Owen version -- for one, it's more cinematic. But I do love the Sim version, though I think that great actor was better as Miss Fritton than he was as Scrooge -- he was a great comic actor (TCM, please give us The Green Man ). But the Hollywood version has more of that old atmosphere, which we find in A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and which suits Dickens better, I think, than the 1951 film, which looks like early Hammer. It's good to have both of these "main" versions to compare and enjoy, but I find the 1951 film sort of stagey. I haven't seen it for a while, but I remember wanting to shout at the screen, "move the camera, dammit!," in the same way I did during the crowd scenes in Victoria the Great, another British film (with Anna Neagle, directed by her husband, Herbert Wilcox) where I assume the director or the cameraman fell asleep.

Or just Motel; or The Motel But flash, just so you know: "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's frittters!"

Of course my top answer to the question posed by this thread is *Irene Dunne*, but I love *Ginger Rogers.* (For me, Dunne is in a different league). I do think that Rogers' movies with Astaire represents the best work for both of them, not just because of their chemistry, but because for a number of reasons those films are something special.