Swithin

Philostrate -- played by Finbar Lynch in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1996)

So sorry to hear this. He was a great theater director as well. I saw his production of The Dead Monkey at the Royal Shakespeare Company many years ago (1986) and still have very fond memories of that crazy Nick Darke play. R.I.P. Mr. Michell. Anthony O'Donnell, Frances Barber in The Dead Monkey

What a great series, so glad one of the best character actors is being honoured. Sydney Greenstreet had a rich career on Broadway, beginning with a supporting role in The Merchant of Venice in 1907, when he was 28 years ago. The cast also included Sybil Thorndike. He later appeared (1938) as Sorin in Uncle Vanya with the Lunts. In 1933, he appeared in Roberta, the musical. He also played Uncle in The Good Earth, a role that was played on screen by Walter Connolly.

"Love in a Home" is a great song. I used to have both LPs -- stage and screen. Yes, sorry about Edie, but it's nice the way so many of the Broadway cast are in the movie. Even Al Nesor as Evil Eye Fleagle! My mother told me that Nesor used to appear at our local night club in the Bronx. Panama and Frank were involved in most aspects (creative and production) of the Broadway show as well as the film, which probably accounts for their appreciation of the Broadway cast. Li'l Abner is indeed a popular show with high schools, and there are examples of that online. It's amusing that they sometimes change the lyrics to the opening number. In the song "It's a Typical Day," on stage and screen Carmen Alvarez sings "Howdy boys I'm Moonbeam McSwine, sleeping out with pigs is my line." That line is often changed in high school productions.

The New York Times television guide used to have this description whenever Sister Kenny was being shown: "We prefer Sister Mame."

Peter Ibbetson (1935). Directed by Henry Hathaway. Photographed by Charles Lang. Music by Ernest Toch. I can't quite get it together to write something about this glorious movie which I have finally seen. For now, some images and quotes: "A triumph of surrealist thought" -- Andre Breton "One of the world's ten greatest films" -- Luis Bunuel "This film, insofar as it shows the ultimate defeat of anything which opposes itself to love, should be screened regularly in all the movie theaters all over the world." -- Ado Kyrou Colonel Forsythe (played by Douglas Dumbrille) to Mrs. Dorian (played by Doris Lloyd): Col. Forsythe:"The desperate love between children. Is there anything in the world forgotten so soon? " Mrs. Dorian: "I would say, Colonel, it is the last thing forgotten of all." Dickie Moore and Virginia Weidler as Gogo and Mimsy, who grow up to be Peter and Mary Gary Cooper and Ann Harding

I was walking up Amsterdam Avenue to go to dinner tonight and had to cross to the other side of the street, because there was a huge tent guarded by security, related to a party of some sort, which preceded something at the nearby Beacon Theater. I thought it was something to do with all the UN fuss, but that's on the East Side. I was told the event was the pre-screening dinner related to the Tribeca Film Festival, which was opening tonight with a screening of the Sopranos prequel: https://tribecafilm.com/press-center/press-releases/tribeca-enterprises-announces-tribeca-fall-preview (Btw, Tribeca is way downtown; the Festival opening is taking place on the Upper West Side).

28 Days Later (2002) -- Rage is a virus Next: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) -- directed by Danny Boyle

Frank McHugh was in One Way Passage with Warren Hymer.

TCM take note! Please show Li'l Abner on Sadie Hawkins Day (November 13).

Wholesome Abner could never have had a scandalous personal life! As he sings: "I gets purdy tired of runnin' from Daisy Mae..." He seems to have lived a happy life. In the Wikipedia bio, there's a citation for an article in a Milwaukee paper. Palmer was born in Milwaukee. "Dogpatch Image Stalks Palmer"

He seemed to have moved to television, although he did make a few more movies. But what can you do, when your inaugural role is such a signature one? As he said, "I started at the top." https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/peter-palmer-dead-lil-abner-1235018391/ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0658413/

Li'l Abner (1959) is one of the most enjoyable stage-to-screen movies, ever. The eponymous role, which seemed to be made for him, was played by Peter Palmer, who died yesterday. Let's hope TCM screens the film on Sadie Hawkins Day (November 13). "Peter Webster Palmer was offered scholarships to a number of universities; however, he chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study voice under Bruce Foote. He was the first music major to letter in football at the university. While at Illinois his team won the Big Ten championships in 1951 and 1953 and the Rose Bowl in 1952. Palmer sang the national anthem at every home game in 1953 before taking the field. In 1956, Palmer was cast in the title role of the musical Li'l Abner, for which he won a Theatre World Award. In 1959, he was cast in the same role in the movie version. His Li'l Abner role brought him a guest appearance on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. In 1967, Palmer had a recurring role as Sergeant James Bustard, a former Confederate soldier in the short-lived series Custer. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Palmer appeared on numerous television episodes, including small parts on Dallas and Emergency. He appeared on Broadway with Carol Channing in Lorelei in 1974. In 1977, he had a regular role as part of the cast on the short-lived sitcom The Kallikaks.

Mercedes McCambridge Next: Flighty

I'm surprised at all the negativity about two Roz Russell movies that I love: Auntie Mame and Gypsy. I think the only movie that I really HATE is Brazil (1985), a revolting, pretentious pile of .... But it's not really a popular movie. A popular movie that I dislike and think is wildly overrated is Double Indemnity.

"Every Time I Hear the Spirit/Give Me that Old Time Religion/Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel" -- sung by Clarence Muse and cast in Harmony Lane (1935) Next: Sung by a character who is annoyed

Finlay Currie was in Glamorous Night with Otto Kruger.

Prudence Hyman Next: Ruddy complexioned

A poster complained that the thread's title was Ms. Bisset's role in a movie that no one cares about. No one cares about Bullitt? I think it's a pretty seminal film and might even be called a classic!

Well, as in most things, it's a question of taste. I like Ari's threads, they mark a change in style, which I find refreshing. Regarding the search you mention, I find that a very useful tool. In the Games threads, I often search to see if what I plan to post has been posted before (even by me!). I was going to post a song in the "First Song..." thread, but in doing a search, I discovered the I posted that a few times before, over the years. Not that I couldn't do it again, if the clue called for it; it's just that one tries to be a little different, particularly when the whole history of film is our oyster!

The Roddy McDowall thread is a good example, thanks, What Ari does is to take that idea a step further, titling the thread by the name of a character, which I find makes it more challenging and interesting (which is good, as far as I'm concerned). In fact, there were older threads related to Roddy McDowall. In fact, there has been a thread, in some fashion, about almost everyone, and it doesn't seem to stop the creation of new ones related to a given subject. I don't think that's a big deal. I think there is something about this particular sort of thread that upsets people. But it has occasioned a spirited conversation! What I would like to see, since we're all talking about process here, is a limit to the number of threads any given poster can start in any given time period.

If you look back, you can see that I never liked the obit thread, I think it's disrespectful. But that's just me. If Ari has a unique way of celebrating the birthdays he cares about, we don't have to extrapolate that to the celebration of all birthdays, or the way other posters want to celebrate the birthdays that are important to them. This demand for conformity is surprising in a thread with (at least a fair amount) of open minded, intelligent posters.

In any format, it's good that the actors we love are honoured, whether on their birthdays or when they leave us. But when they get the individual thread, we can go back to it later on, whereas if they're in the catch-all thread, that would be awkward.

I was wondering about little Syd for the gift. The photo is actually something that a young boy might like -- Keaton in a Spanish costume holding a bird in a cage. But I doubt that it was for the kid. Btw, I've never seen the film --The Invader -- but the user reviews on IMDB are simply awful! The back of the photo frame has a sticker that says "Photo by Lewis Protheroe."

If I wasn't grateful to TCM for anything else, I'd love them for showing a 1993 film which I somehow missed when it was released: The Age of Innocence. It's now one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, and if TCM stuck to some hard and fast rule about dates, I'd probably never have seen it. (I don't care if it was made in 1993. It's a "classic" to me!)