Cinemascope

Is this it? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034299/

I don't believe in monochrome "purism". I'm sure glad the makers of The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden (1949), The Blue Bird, The Women, among other pictures, didn't either.

Ah, but do most people watch Gilda for RH or for GF? Not that either one of them gave a bad performance...

It is not a meaningless post, I genuinely love Judy Garland singing "I'm an Indian Too", and if you don't like it a you call me names because of it, then you can kiss my cellulite-free rear end. Why don't you go and spank the monkey with all of your Julie Andrews photos?

Did anyone else catch this wonderful 1939 Oscar-winning short that played this morning after Theodora Goes Wild? Great to see such a rousing Technicolor short, directed by Michael Curtiz -- did the guy never take a vacation?

Sorry I missed your post earlier, if you want maybe I can help, shoot me a PM!

Half-an-hour till showtime!

I thought that out of all the members of the Academy, only actors could vote for other actors?

Oh that's awesome -- thanks for the reminder.

Amen to that!

There is nothing mean-spirited about it, simply miss the days when seeing new posts in the "Musicals" forum meant there might be an interesting opinion or tidbit, or an update about something new being shown on TCM or other channels. "Worship" threads are all very well in the "Favorites" forum but I can't see why they need to be in a forum that was presumably intended for more in-depth discussions.

And I think that certainly L.B. Mayer wouldn't have considered getting someone on loan (at least not for a starring part) if the studio had already someone who could be relied to carry a picture... JG was not yet a huge star at the time she was cast, although of course she acquited herself beautifully.

I love her rendition of "I'm an Indian Too"!

Awww could anyone *not* enjoy working with PN?

Ah, that's the great thing about dual-tuner DVRs, being able to watch one thing while recording another or simply recording two programs at the same time!

The problem with the movie isn't in the casting, it's in trying to recapture a special magic that came almost naturally to Capra in the 30's but was sadly missing in the 60's.

No, the real shame is that you couldn't be in the newsroom of the Times when this was written, and for that matter, in any other publication that should ever review a musical, because God knows nobody could ever be as brilliant and insightful as you obviously think you are.

Well I disagree, I thought it was a positive review that mentioned a lot of good things about the movie.

Yes, but I think Disney and Lucas, respectively, cared a lot more about the quality and entertainment value of their creations even if they also thought like businessmen (and we'd be hypocrites to hold it against them, capitalism is still one of America's core values or at least it was last time I checked). I honestly don't see the makers of TMNT caring at all about the quality of their films... children might like them all the same, but that doesn't make the situation any better, IMHO.

Do I "pick it apart sociologically" when I watch Song of the South or Gone with the Wind? No. I think we can all enjoy classic movies just as much without failing to realize that so many of them involved racial caricatures or near-caricatures. The case of Flower Drum Song is particularly striking to me personally because the movie's set in the Bay Area and because of the large Asian population here... to recognize this aspect of the movie isn't the same as putting the movie down or suggesting there isn't something there for us to enjoy -- especially those of us who like musicals. I can enjoy Song of the South an awful lot and still wish it didn't seem so dated in its portrayals of African-American characters.... just a minor quibble about an otherwise enjoyable piece of cinematic fluff.

Well I'm just amazed you'd say that, Anne. No, seriously, I am. To me it seemed a fairly positive review overall... he did say it was "quite a show" and even praised the "ornate ballet done to the song, Love Look Away." And I'm sorry, but the fact that it's a musical doesn't change the fact that some of the characters are still racial caricatures... and that may simply reflect the time at which it was written. It has nothing with being "true to life" -- escapism in movies doesn't HAVE to involve racial caricatures. Same thing with Song of the South, I suppose. We can regret the fact that such films often resorted to racial caricatures and still enjoy these films for what they have to offer.

It was either Chaplin on home video or The Wind at a college screening... but it's hard to remember, I was really just a kid.

Awwww Dumbo is sooooo cute!!!

Tnx for the update!

And your opinion about what constitutes a classic isn't going to be the same as someone else's. No harm there, is there?