Swithin
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Posts posted by Swithin
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I think the Preatorius/Henry duo is way more obvious even than the Yogami/Glendon duo. Some say that Bride is a film about two men wanting to have a baby! Bride's opening scenes -- with Mary Shelley, her husband, and Lord Byron -- show Byron and Shelley in one shot, Shelley in the countershot. It's obvious that (as history tells us) Byron and Shelley were having an affair, leaving Mary out in the cold; the Praetorious/Henry match-up mirrors that.
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Also that very strange scene in which they're looking at each other, it's very unusual.
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An interesting gay subtex -- though it was 1935, and you need to look deep -- is in Werewolf of London, perhaps my favorite werewolf movie. There are some shots that clearly indicate that, from a very unusual scene between Dr. Glendon and Dr. Yogami at the garden party; to the way Glendon, in his werewolf mode, jumps on his pray near the end of the film.
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I didn't know that Cohen produced *Horrors of the Black Museum*, which I saw when I was a boy. Who can forget that early scene with the binoculars? Years later, through a mutual friend in London, I met Graham Curnow, who had played Michael Gough's young assistant. Lovely man -- told the most outrageous jokes! He died several years ago; his partner, the actor Victor Spinetti, died earlier this year.
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I like word games, puns, plays on words, etc., so I found it very funny! Things that can be taken in more than one way. I didn't realize there were issues between you,
But seriously, I think it's harder to make a list of underrated films than one of overrated films. There was a thread a while back about underrated actors, and the responses were really not about actors who were underrated; just somewhat lesser known.
I guess I could come up with all the obscure films I love and call them underrated for the purposes of this thread.
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Actually, that's very funny! :^0
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Haven't seen The She Creature since I was about six years old, but now I want to see it again! It sounds BAD in the best sense!
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Walter Connolly is one of my favorites! I particularly like him as the exasperated head of a newsreel company (and Clark Gable's boss) in Too Hot Too Handle.
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My father took me to see The She Creature when I was a small boy. It was on a double bill with It Conquered the World, an early Corman movie. I loved both films.
Voodoo Woman is one of my favorite Cahn films, about a woman from Pittsburgh who goes into the African jungle looking for treasure and is turned into a monster by a mad scientist. Do you think we can say Cahn is an early feminist film maker?
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The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is another rarity, to be seen in October. Haven't seen it in the years -- interesting cast, including Eduard Franz, Lumsden Hare, Henry Daniell, and Paul Cavanagh. I recall it as having an eerie kind of atmosphere, in a late '50s horror sort of way.
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A Room with a View
next: an advice to the lovelorn columnist
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I assumed they would ban the IP address, not just the user name. One could still get around that, but it would be more difficult.
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Btw, I was joking about the volunteer thing. And the marine thing comes from a posting he made a few weeks ago.
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Maybe not THAT important but important.
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Michael gets paid? I thought he was a volunteer, waiting to join the marines. How did I get that idea? ; :^0
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I would assume that ratings are very important to TCM. Even organizations that are not strictly speaking "commercial," or for profit, need to know that they are reaching an audience. Where I live, in NYC, our non-profit institutions -- free libraries, museums, health organizations -- are obsessed with metrics. Those who provide services need to know that the services are being used. That may be partly due to funding issues, partly because it is generally an important -- sometimes the only -- measure of the success of the non-profit in a very competitive climate.
I've also heard the idea from posters on this board who think that, apart from the moderator, TCM staff do not care about or view this board. I suspect that is a ridiculous assumption. Any organization that has such a valuable user tool, no matter what proportion of "customers" use it, is a great boon to the organization in many ways.
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I'm thrilled that *Vampyr* is being shown (October 7), but why is it being called by the odd alternative title ( Not Against the Flesh )?
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I remember watching the AFI tribute to Bette Davis, in 1977. William Wyler was one of the speakers, and he talked briefly about he and Davis would argue about how a certain scene should be played in Jezebel. It's too bad TCM didn't exist then, imagine having those two have that discussion in conjunction with a TCM screening!
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I remember my first horror film. A slightly older boy who lived in my building told me about Shock Theater on Channel 7, so I pleaded with my mother to let me stay up to watch Dracula's Daughter. The "Swan Lake" music came up over the opening credits, and I ran out of the room in terror, but slunk back to watch the movie. Shock Theater followed Ben Hecht, so it would have been 1958/9. They showed The Mad Doctor of Market Street and many of the other horrors at that time. They must have lost the rights a few years later.
Just came across a piece that said that Shock Theater was originally called the Night Show, which you mentioned. I don't remember that name. I do remember the TV Guide would have a small ad for the horror films -- a photo of Gloria Holden for Dracula's Daughter. They were called melodramas in those days.
http://www.scrabo.com/scrivani4.htm
Edited by: Swithin on Sep 23, 2012 6:30 PM
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Clore, now you've got me wondering. When I was a boy growing up in NYC, there were two horror movies series on local television: "Shock Theater" on Channel 7, on late, right after the Ben Hecht Show; and "Shock-o-Rama," which was on Channel 13, in its pre-PBS incarnation. PBS is now celebrating 50 years, and I thought I remembered the 1949 Fall of the House of Usher having been on Channel 13 pre-PBS. But now I wonder, was it 7 or 13?
A little after that, Chiller Theater, Fright Night, and other horror film series came along, but I think it was 7 and 13 that started it all. Though of course "Million Dollar Movie" on Channel 9 occasionally showed films that were horror-related, particularly if they featured big apes!
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My local theater -- the Film Society of Lincoln Center -- does a wonderful job of showing a wide range of movies as well as presenting the NY Film Festival. I love going there, but they do sometimes have introductions, interviews, etc., before the films. Most people seem to like that; it certainly is an enhancement to hear the director after the film. But when I go, and the chat is BEFORE the film, I usually get around to thinking, "Enough!!!, show the !%+!xo film already!!!
I tend to think a film stands on its own, like a painting. But I do like Robert and Ben and judicious introductions.
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*I totally disagree with you!* I remember when I first glanced at the October schedule, courtesy of Calvin. I think (assuming that early schedule still holds), that it's one of the best all-round months in ages, both Halloween-related and otherwise. The Hammer is thankfully minimized, compared to last year. And one movie I have been waiting to see again FOR DECADES is scheduled: the 1949 *Fall of the House of Usher,* an odd film for sure, and a real rarity. Many other films to look forward to as well!
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Great photo! And Goin' to Town is one of those Mae West rarities that I'd love to see on TCM.
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LZ, I'm afraid this sort of thread is just the sort that could spin off the subject, because the OP was a statement of fact. There really isn't that much to say about it. But, out of respect for your desire to get back to the original subject, here are my thoughts:
The hosting part of TCM is not that important to me. I like Bob -- met him a few times at parties in NY -- and I think he and Ben add something, provided they don't go on too long. Sometimes I think they spend too much time about the gossipy angles related to the film -- who was getting along with whom -- rather than the work itself, but I can deal with that. Sometimes I like an additional guest -- a great friend of mine was a co-host recently, but I don't like too much of that, meaning those actors who help pick and discuss the films. Spend the time showing films, not talking too much about them!
Also, I wish Bob good health and happiness. But if a host is out sick, I don't think it has to be treated like an illness of the head of Red China, or some dictatorship, where it has to be kept hush hush for fear the country would fall apart. Whenever anyone is out sick from their job, or takes a lighter schedule in anticipation of retirement, that's not kept secret. I'm not saying that's the reason Bob's schedule is changing; just that if it might be the case, there's no need to be cagey about it.
So now I hope I've got this thread back to its original subject!
TCM's pathetic/lousy October schedule
in General Discussions
Posted
I love Aunt Ettie, and of course the two ladies in the pub -- Ethel Griffies and Zeffie Tilbury. One of my favorite lines, spoken to Dr. Glendon by a woman at the flower show, when he tells her a certain plant comes from Java: "I simply jitter to go to Java, simply jitter!" Then Aunt Ettie enters and mimics the line.