basilfawlty12

Hello, While going through the TCM schedule, I've noticed that lately the network hasn't been playing that many of the later Warner Bros. pictures. I had thought that TCM added the post-1950 Warners library to their stable of films (which had included the MGM/UA library and pre-1950 Warner Bros. films) when Turner became Time-Warner's head. Yet there are a ton of post-1950 Warners films that TCM rarely (if ever) plays: MISTER ROBERTS, EAST OF EDEN, WAIT UNTIL DARK, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, THE BAD SEED, BONNIE AND CLYDE, AUNTIE MAME, etc. Does anyone know if TCM still has access to the later Warners library? If so, why don't they play these movies very often? -S.

My favorites: Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) They Knew What They Wanted (1940) North by Northwest (1959) M (1931) Trouble in Paradise (1932) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Either one: Gun Crazy or Deadly is the Female (1949) 8 1/2 (1963) - I also like other title that Fellini considered, The Beautiful Confusion Best Use of a Movie Title (for how it relates to the film): La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) (1960) Persona (1966) The Hours (2002) Worst: The Flaming Teen-age (1956) Kazaam (1996) - did anyone see this title and mistakenly think it had anything to do with Gomer Pyle? The Incredibly Strange Creature Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies (1967) I Dismember Mama (1974) Crazy Fat Ethel II (1987) Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) - why not just "Gold Diggers"? The Opposite Sex and How to Live With Them - strange because it's semantically incorrect Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1965) - was supposed to be Rat Pfink and Boo Boo but the person who designed the titles made a mistake and the budget was too small to correct it And Just Plain Weird: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) Eraserhead (1977) Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1966) - from the Arthur Kopit play of the same name

Actually, I like Criswell's intro to PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959): "We are all interested in the future, for it is in the future where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!" "Future events such as these will affect you...in the future." And - I can't remember all of the lines - but there are many bad moments for the ages in BOOM! (1968) such as the Witch of Capri (Noel Coward) howling for Flora "Sissy" Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor) and Sissy (Taylor) showing off her talent for Kabuki theater (with music which she provides).

My favorite bit of news from this past year was the DVD release of Love Me Tonight (1932) with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier; I only wish (1) it'd been the 101 minute version, not the 88 minute one (I hope someone somewhere can find that Myrna Loy scene that was cut!) and (2) Kino would've released it with some commentary from someone - or some extras of some kind. As it is considered one of the greatest movie musicals, surely there's someone out there who could comment on it. I was also happy to see that Once Upon a Time in the West was finally released to DVD. Now if The High and the Mighty is released sometime this year (as Michael Wayne is rumored to do) then that'll be another must-have...

I'm another Dressler fan - I only wish she'd have been able to make more films. She steals the show in Dinner at Eight and proved herself an able dramatic actress in Anna Christie. I wish TCM would show some of her work with Polly Moran more often, particularly Reducing and Politics.

My favorite comedians of all time: * W. C. Fields - particularly in The Bank Dick (1940), It's a Gift (1934) and The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935). I'd say Bank Dick is his best film, but the first thirty minutes of Man on the Flying Trapeze are probably the funniest work he ever did. *Jack Benny - I like his radio show probably better than any other, but he was also wonderful in To Be or Not to Be (1942) and the rarely seen The Meanest Man in the World (1943). *Bob Hope - only I have to be careful - less is more with Hope, in my opinion. I loved The Cat and the Canary (1939), the Road films (especially Morocco and Utopia) and The Ghost Breakers (1940) *and the Marx Brothers - especially Duck Soup (1933), A Day at the Races (1937) and A Night at the Opera (1935). and then there's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Bringing Up Baby (1938), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Auntie Mame (1958), all of which I've seen more times than I can count.

Hey all, I don't post very often and I don't have the time to scroll over every message / topic that's been posted...but I do notice a lot of negative feedback that the network has been getting, and I just wanted to add my 2 positive cents to relieve the tedium. A while back, I was concerned that TCM seemed to really be going to the dogs, not only because I was seeing what seemed to be more modern films on the schedule, but also because they seemed to be showing the same films all the time. However, over the past 8 months or so, it seems to me the network has changed somewhat for the better. I've probably taped in excess of 200 films over that time period; many, MANY pre-coders (probably the best change overall on the network - please keep those 30s films coming), several silents and foreign films, not to mention many titles shown in OAR (please don't ever stop doing that!). For now, I just have 2 requests: (1) Do the Voyage to Italy again sometime and (2) Please get a copy - somewhere - of They Knew What They Wanted with Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard. I have a lousy copy on tape but I'd love to see a decent version of this flick. Those are my two cents, anyway. Anyone else have anything to say about TCM over the past year?

I don't know about the "best" but I know what my favorites are. Lillian Gish: The Wind (1928) Charles Chaplin: Modern Times (1936) Marx Brothers: Duck Soup (1933) James Dean: East of Eden (1955) James Cagney: Public Enemy (1931) Joan Crawford: Mildred Pierce (1945) William Powell: The Thin Man (1934) Barbara Stanwyck: Double Indemnity (1944) W. C. Fields: The Bank Dick (1940) Cary Grant: The Awful Truth (1937) Humphrey Bogart: The Maltese Falcon (1941) Peter Sellers: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Charles Laughton: The Suspect (1944) Jack Lemmon: The Apartment (1960) Laurence Olivier: The Entertainer (1960) James Mason: A Star is Born (1954) James Stewart: Harvey (1950) Sidney Poitier: The Defiant Ones (1958) Paul Newman: Hud (1963) Susan Hayward: I Want to Live! (1958) Rosalind Russell: Auntie Mame (1958) Anne Bancroft: The Graduate (1967) Olivia de Havilland: The Heiress (1949) Elizabeth Taylor: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) Katharine Hepburn: The Lion in Winter (1968) Ginger Rogers: Stage Door (1937) Carole Lombard: My Man Godfrey (1936) Miriam Hopkins: These Three (1936) Bette Davis: All About Eve (1950) Judy Garland: A Star is Born (1954) John Wayne: really tough, but...The Searchers (1956)

Don't know if it'll help, but if I were teaching a year long film course and just wanted to acquaint people with what I felt were (for one reason or another) the most important films ever made, this would be my schedule: Semester I The Battleship Potemkin Greed Sunrise The Passion of Joan of Arc Metropolis M Trouble in Paradise Modern Times The Rules of the Game Citizen Kane Double Indemnity Brief Encounter Open City Semester II The Bicycle Thief Rashomon Ikiru The Searchers Strangers on a Train Vertigo The Seventh Seal Wild Strawberries Tokyo Story Pather Panchali 8 1/2 The 400 Blows Weekend

Here's my list - it's pretty all inclusive (at least for me). Favorite Comedies: The Awful Truth, Topper, Bringing Up Baby, Twentieth Century, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, The Women, Animal Crackers, Some Like it Hot, It's a Gift, Arsenic and Old Lace, Harvey, Adam's Rib, The Bank Dick, The Apartment, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, City Lights, Steamboat Bill Jr., Stage Door, Trouble in Paradise, Auntie Mame, His Girl Friday, The Thin Man, Born Yesterday (1950), Dinner at Eight (1933), My Man Godfrey (1936), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Lady Eve, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, Monkey Business (1952), Modern Times, The Great Dictator, A Shot in the Dark, Safety Last, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Baker's Wife, Monsieur Verdoux, Libeled Lady, A Letter To Three Wives, Ninotchka, That Darn Cat! (1965), Miracle on 34th Street, If I Had a Million, Bombshell. Favorite Dramas: Citizen Kane, Greed (1925), A Man for All Seasons, All About Eve, Gone With the Wind, Sunset Boulevard, That Hamilton Woman, The Seventh Seal, On the Waterfront, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer, Othello (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Lolita (1962), To Kill a Mockingbird, Pandora's Box, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Grand Hotel, The Last Laugh, Mildred Pierce, The Little Foxes, These Three, Persona, Rashomon, The Good Earth, Room at the Top, Cries and Whispers, The Wind (1928), History is Made at Night, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Imitation of Life (1959), Smilin' Through (1932), The Heiress, The Story of Temple Drake, The Marrying Kind. Favorite Musicals: 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, The Wizard of Oz (1939), Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Star is Born (1954), Singin in the Rain, On the Town, Love Me Tonight, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Les Girls, Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, Top Hat, The Gay Divorcee, Carefree. Favorite Horror / Suspense Flicks: Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Psycho (1960), North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rear Window (1954), Shadow of a Doubt, Dead of Night (1945), Strangers on a Train, Witness for the Prosecution (1957), The Night of the Hunter, Diabolique (1955), Peeping Tom, The Collector, The Innocents, Village of the Damned, Wait Until Dark, The Uninvited, The Third Man, The Lady From Shanghai, Touch of Evil, The 39 Steps (1935), The Bride of Frankenstein, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Nightmare Alley, Stray Dog, So Long at the Fair, The Cat and the Canary (1939), Gaslight (1944), The Lady Vanishes (1938), The Suspect (1944), The Bad Seed (1956), "M". Favorite Action / Adventures and Sci Fi: Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Ben-Hur (1959), The Sea Hawk, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Seven Samurai, The African Queen, Gun Crazy, In Search of the Castaways, Scarface: The Shame of a Nation, Metropolis, The Great Escape, Throne of Blood, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Captain Blood. Favorite Westerns: Stagecoach (1939), Winchester '73, The Man from Laramie, The Naked Spur, El Dorado, Rio Bravo, High Noon, Three Godfathers, The Searchers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, True Grit. Favorite Bad Films: Plan 9 From Outer Space, Valley of the Dolls, Manos: The Hands of Fate, Maniac (1934), Reefer Madness, Bride of the Monster, Glen or Glenda?, The Thing With Two Heads, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Boom!, The Girl From Chicago.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

I would like to see TCM do as they did in August (I believe it was) when they devoted each day to a different star, only I'd like to see them do it with some "forgotten stars" or stars that aren't that popular with the public at large these days, but who made some real classics. Some of them I would include would be Sterling Hayden, Robert Ryan, Marie Dressler, Miriam Hopkins, Margaret Sullavan, Alastair Sim, Eleanor Parker, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, W. C. Fields, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Blondell, Paulette Goddard, Merle Oberon, Alan Ladd, Kay Francis, John Barrymore, and the actor who in my opinion was one of the greatest Hollywood is ever likely to see, Charles Laughton.

Concerning Cher in "Moonstruck," she was certainly a bad choice; of the nominees that year, I would have chosen Glenn Close for "Fatal Attraction," but the winner that year really should have been the unnominated Lillian Gish for her performance in "The Whales of August." According to reports, Gish wasn't upset not to be nominated; after the telecast she said that "what would truly have been embarrassing would have been to have been nominated and then have lost to Cher."

I would love to see the uncut version of Rouben Mamoulian's "Love Me Tonight," along with many of the other Paramount classics, such as "The Story of Temple Drake" and "The Stranger's Return"; also Thelma Ritter in "The Mating Season" and "The Model and the Marriage Broker," which were both shown frequently on AMC before the network went to the dogs.

Yet another Oscar game. Here's what you do: 1) Select the worst winner ever (1927-2003) in each category; best picture, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director. You may only choose a winner or winners from ONE year. 2) Select who you would choose instead in that same category (you do not have to choose from the nominees that year, but of course, the performance you select should be from that year). Mine are: Supporting Actress: 1945 - Anne Revere, "National Velvet" Should have won: Ann Blyth, "Mildred Pierce" Supporting Actor: 1938 - Walter Brennan, "Kentucky" Should have won: Charles Ruggles, "Bringing Up Baby" Director: 1932-33 - Frank Lloyd, "Cavalcade" Should have won: Ernst Lubitsch, "Trouble in Paradise" Actress: 1936 - Luise Rainer, "The Great Ziegfeld" Should have won: Miriam Hopkins, "These Three" (close second - Carole Lombard, "My Man Godfrey") Actor: 1965 - Lee Marvin, "Cat Ballou" Should have won - Terence Stamp, "The Collector" Picture: 1928-29 - Broadway Melody Should have won - The Wind

I actually have two favorite film years. First, 1937: *Stage Door *Make Way for Tomorrow *Grand Illusion *Conquest *Stella Dallas *The Awful Truth *A Damsel in Distress *Angel *Nothing Sacred *You Only Live Once *The Good Earth *A Star is Born *Topper *Captains Courageous *Way out West *A Day at the Races *Lost Horizon *The Prisoner of Zenda *The Life of Emile Zola *Easy Living *Marked Woman *The Prince and the Pauper *Night Must Fall *Maytime *They Won't Forget *In Old Chicago *100 Men and a Girl *Tovarich *Confession *Quality Street *They Won't Forget *History is Made at Night *Dead End *Shall We Dance *Young and Innocent ....and second, 1944. *Double Indemnity *Gaslight *Murder, My Sweet *Laura *The Miracle of Morgan's Creek *Going My Way *Wilson *Hail the Conquering Hero *Arsenic and Old Lace *To Have and Have Not *Jane Eyre *National Velvet *Cover Girl *Mr. Skeffington *The Keys of the Kingdom *A Canterbury Tale *The Sullivans *Lifeboat *Phantom Lady *Meet Me in St. Louis *The Suspect *Curse of the Cat People *Ministry of Fear *The Uninvited *The Seventh Cross *The White Cliffs of Dover *The Mask of Dimitrios *The Lodger *Mrs. Parkington *The Princess and the Pirate I also like 1932, 1933 and 1962, all of which have already been mentioned.

I'm a huge fan of bad film. Some of mine: "Manos: The Hands of Fate", made by Harold P. Warren, a fertilizer salesman, and one of many films which were featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." The film is an absolute riot, even if you don't have anyone making fun of it for you. "Plan 9 From Outer Space," of course, which never got a run on MST3K because the film is hilarious in its own right. *"Eegah," another MST3K favorite which again is hysterical without the heckling. Arch Hall, Jr. was one of the most unappealing teen stars ever to step in front of a camera. "Glen or Glenda," Ed Wood's treatise on transvestism, made ridiculous by insipid dialogue, unbelievably bad acting and a pathetic attempt at surrealism. "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!," which is, in my opinion, Russ Meyer's best film - it should have earned tough Tura Satana an Oscar nomination in what was a horrid year for actresses (whatever you think of the script, she nails this character). "Maniac", an exploitation film from 1934 directed by Dwain Esper, featuring some of the most ludicrous acting ever filmed, interspersed with text about various mental illnesses to give it an air of scholarship. Absolutely unbelievable. Finally, Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins and Sharon Tate give hilarious performances in "Valley of the Dolls"; Duke is over the top in every aspect and Parkins and Tate act like they were given large doses of Sominex before every scene (neither could be more apathetic).