Swithin
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Posts posted by Swithin
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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
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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.
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5 minutes ago, DougieB said:
I'm not surprised it stalked him because it's one of the most perfect pairings of actor and role ever. I love the movie and still laugh out loud at some of the corny jokes and wittily drawn characters, especially William Lanteau as Available Jones, who was Julie Newmar's "wrangler". I like Leslie Parrish very much, but it's a shame Edie Adams couldn't have passed as the teenaged Daisy Mae in front of a movie camera; you can get away with a lot more on stage. The movie eliminated the beautiful duet he had with Edie, "You Can Tell When There's Love in a Home", which was the loss of a very special moment. It was Peter's unflagging sincerity in what was essentially a stylized cartoon of a role which was the buoyancy which kept the whole thing afloat. I understand that Steve Reeves sometimes played the role in summer stock; he was actually a capable actor and probably physically right, but I can't help wondering whether he could have captured the sweet stupidity (and yet instinctual good sense) of Abner. I was so excited when the local high school chose L'il Abner, but wanted to melt into the floor as the local football hero failed miserably to bring the character to life; it's so much more than a body and Peter Palmer was so much more and then some. Many actors go their whole career without a defining role and I'm sure would have wished to have had something like Abner as their legacy. And the voice! R.I.P. to a rare talent.
"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.
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The New York Times television guide used to have this description whenever Sister Kenny was being shown:
"We prefer Sister Mame."
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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
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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:
(Btw, Tribeca is way downtown; the Festival opening is taking place on the Upper West Side).
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28 Days Later (2002) -- Rage is a virus
Next: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) -- directed by Danny Boyle
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Frank McHugh was in One Way Passage with Warren Hymer.
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10 minutes ago, Sepiatone said:
Well then, I'd say it's long overdue for a return.
One of the few musicals I like, but I never knew the guy's name. I guess 90 is a good run on this marbled bowling ball(apologies to Joni Mitchell) and I do hope he Rests In Peace.
Sepiatone
TCM take note! Please show Li'l Abner on Sadie Hawkins Day (November 13).
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7 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
At first I thought maybe he had been blacklisted, or had a scandalous personal life, which prevented him from obtaining more screen roles.
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"
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2 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
So why no more movie roles for him?
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/
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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.
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Mercedes McCambridge
Next: Flighty
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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.
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"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
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Finlay Currie was in Glamorous Night with Otto Kruger.
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Prudence Hyman
Next: Ruddy complexioned
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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!
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1 hour ago, TopBilled said:
Well if you will notice I said the previous Roddy McDowall thread was active just a short time ago. Obviously it's a bit much to expect others to find threads from five or ten years ago (though that is possible with the search feature). But in this case it was a recent discussion and probably could be found just a few pages back.
I do not think the OP is interested in adding to other people's threads. He/she is more interested in making new threads and showing off his/her own posting style.
One thing I do on General Discussions is I run a search of all the threads I started, to see if a new idea or thought process can be tacked on to something I already created. If not, that is when I begin a new thread topic. But even then, I try to see if there are other threads in last five pages or so, created by someone else, where I can add my thoughts. I don't just make new threads at the drop of a proverbial hat.
At one point I had created a thread called Today's Topic, which was meant to be a more generalized thread for all sorts of different ideas related to classic film. The goal was it would cut down on my making too many threads. But eventually the Today's Topic thread became unwieldy and I just decided to go back to making new threads about new topics, but not at an alarming rate.
Again this is not about conformity per se or about dictating to others how and when to make threads. But I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that someone be more purposeful and less random in the proliferation of threads on the General Discussions board. My opinion.
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!
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36 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
I think this may be your own issue(s) about conformity. Most people are not wanting the threads grouped together because of conformity, but because it would be easier to find discussions related to birthdays.
Most of the birthday threads that the OP creates get very few likes or even views, probably because most people know it's just a random little shout-out with no real consequence or meaning.
What I found disrespectful is that the OP does not research if there is a thread about said person already in existence. We have a wonderful thread already created about Roddy McDowall, where a lot of people chimed in and shared their observations about this unique actor. The thread was still quite active just a few months ago and would be easy to find and just add on the birthday wish.
But the OP does not do a search to see if he/she is making a duplicate thread which seems a bit self-absorbed to me, that he/she is just trying to get attention by what they're posting and not what others may have posted on the subject already. Again I am not saying this because of any need for conformity, but so there is respect and contribution on an existing thread that already has a meaningful discussion occurring.
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.
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7 hours ago, Dargo said:
And THEN you said...
So then, it kind'a sounds here Swithin that IF Ari here had started that "Death Takes No Holiday" thread instead of Richard Kimble (btw, whatever happened to that guy anyway?...our fellow forum member, NOT the character David Janssen played on TV...but I digress) and had instead titled it somethin' like say, "Guess Who Just Croaked?", you might like that thread a little MORE???
LOL
(...well, you DID say up there that you like "mystery", now didn't YOU?!...make up your mind here, dude!)
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.
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1 hour ago, sagebrush said:
I love the individual obituaries which posters contribute to this forum and all the wonderful comments other posters add to them. I also like the Obituary thread, however. Not everyone gets their own personal thread on these forums, and so I see it as kind of like reading the weekly obituaries in the Sunday paper. I would have missed many of these announcements otherwise. Also, if you'll pardon a bit of Gallows Humor, the thread is never far off the front page of the general discussions section.
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.
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39 minutes ago, Fausterlitz said:
Yes, the lobby card I posted is for one of the elder Sydney's films (Charlie's brother). The younger Sydney, who appeared in Limelight (1952), would have been 10 years old in 1936; I wasn't suggesting him as the possible recipient, although I suppose that's also possible. 🙂
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."
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1 hour ago, txfilmfan said:
Do I think the films you listed are "classic?" No, not to me. But they might be to someone else, and still might be influential, or just entertaining to some. I don't think the "Maisie" pictures with the great Ann Sothern are "classic" either, but they can be entertaining, and I'm glad TCM shows them. Otherwise, they'd rarely see the light of day.
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!)
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A to Z of Characters
in Games and Trivia
Posted
Philostrate -- played by Finbar Lynch in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1996)