MissGoddess

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote} *You've been quiet lately. Everything alright?* > > Not really. > > Otherwise I've been reading everyone's comments. It's just a matter of not having seen what you everyone is talking about. I do like trying to find things for you and others when I get the chance. Oh I'm sorry to hear that...I've missed your comments.

Ha! That's a great line-up, one I would love to cut-in.

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}I want those John Ford stamps. I'll be at the Post Office the day they come out, I can tell you that.

Hi MsCutter, They haven't announced a release date yet, all I know is it's a 2012 stamp, the first of four on Hollywood directors (the other three names haven't been revealed). It's a "forever" stamp, so it will always be the current First Class value, yay!

"Lush" is a good word and this movie is beautifully designed and photographed. London seldom looked so glamorous, ha. What struck me this time about how Lucy looked was her uniqueness. For the first time I really appreciated that she resembled absolutely no one else in movies at the time. She was statuesque, and a red-head to boot. Really a striking looking woman and most of the time I have to say her comedy has overshadowed her appearance for me until now. Another noir she's good in is *The Dark Corner*, which I wish could have been included in tomorrow's line-up. At least we get *The Big Street*. I haven't seen it in a while but I remember how mean she was to poor old Fonda.

I really like *Lured* more and more every time I see it. I think Lucy's stunning looking in it and as wild as it sounds, she's got real chemistry with George Sanders! (who is just as adorable as can be, playing a good guy for a change).

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote}According to imdb he was married from 1919 to 1928. Later it shows he fathered at least one child with a woman he would introduce as his wife. (It's about half way down the page.) > > http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934595/bio > > Edited by: movieman1957 on Aug 5, 2011 4:27 PM > That's it? Why am I not surprised. Thanks, movieman. You've been quiet lately. Everything alright?

Wow, I wonder what his wife was like? Did he ever marry? Did anyone ever get anything on HIM and expose him? I got *murder by contract* from netflix today so I'll try to watch and post on it tonight or tomorrow. it's from 1958 so i'm not sure i'll like it. i find the later "noirs" generally too violent or grim but i'll try to keep an open mind.

I'd included *3 Bad Men*, too. It's my favorite silent western.

Kingrat, I agree about *The Big Country* and the others you listed that should be included. In fact, any list that leaves off *Man of the West*, let alone pushes it out of the top 20 is crazy!!!! I've never seen *Greed* but I had no idea it had anything to do with the old West...is that its setting?

It's good to see you around, again, MrsC! I hope you've been well?

Thank you for that background on Winchell. I wonder what the public thought of him? Sounds like he was really popular with the readers, making him like a one-man tabloid.

I do feel something unhealthy about JJ's control over his sister. I don't think he's aware of it, but the filmaker seems to want the audience to feel it and thereby make JJ even more evil in our eyes. I wonder about the backstory on this movie...i saw a documentary about it once but of course have forgotten everything. was there some malice behind its conception? it really seems like someone had huge problem with one or more of the columnists of the day to have created such a venal portrait. it feels personal. anyone know for sure?

I discovered that wild store in Rome of all places! Then I was thrilled to find out they have them here! I just loooooooooove the smells and textures. It's like bathing in a banana split.

It's the truth! But you deserve more than a Calgon...maybe a day at a spa with massages and all the goodies.

I have a theory. you like your harry fabian more than sydney falco because...harry is a blonde.

i just want to say it sounds like a certain Alice has a terrific and sensitive mom.

Look at you! That was wonderful. That was a good moment because it validated the mother's berating the father. The thing is, Alice really didn't need to change anything. She was being led to believe she needed to. But it was untrue. You women love to believe we men see some fancy girl and think she's great and that a plain girl won't do a thing for us. Not even close. Women create their own monsters. But they want to. I'm not so sure. Boys love the vivacious, bubbly (and consequently, "popular") girls quite often. And as Jackie pointed out, in the book, the boy does not come back. Reinforcing that the code was strict. "You don't have? Then you stay on your own side of the tracks." I"m afraid men are much more like this today, than even then. College educated men, that is. Sadly, the more educated they become, the more status conscious they become as well. Women have to "measure up" and be "worthy" of them, whereas it used to be the other way around. It's gone from one extreme to another, and girls like "Alice" still fall through the cracks.

I don't disagree with anything you said, Fordy Guns. Mr. Adams did sit on his rear too much. So you've all helped me to see that. He should have taken more pride in himself and this would have helped him take more pride in his own home. You were all right to point out he needed to stand up to his wife more instead of looking to hide from her. I think he did that because he knew she was more right than wrong with her criticisms of him. And you are right about his kissing his boss' rear too much. But I believe he was afraid to rock the boat. He was a meek man. There's no getting around that. Alright. To be fair I admire that he was rather a pure soul, I do not believe he was aware of ANY of the effects of his choices and attitudes. And his meekness about life in general was one of his virtues, it's the blind adoration of the boss that was misplaced and the lack of interest in his home. The saddest moment to me in the whole movie sums up his relationship to reality and his relationship with his daughter: "Alice, you don't care about going to parties and all that do you? Is it so important?" And all Alice could do is run and cry. He probably saw Alice as still a little girl who didn't need finery and friends, and who looked up to him as her hero. But she was becoming a woman and it wasn't really fair to assume she was so unlike most other girls as to not want certain things to be a certain way. If he'd taken just a little more pride as you say, she might have felt more confident herself and less dependent on the idea of being popular. But her father was furtive and her mother was fretful...how do you get to be confident in an ambience like that (unless you're like her brother who just gets the heck out of the house as much he can and small blame to him). So it's not about blaming Mr. Adams, I see it as Kathy said, they all had weaknesses and unfortunately they were the kind of weaknesses that society in small and big towns alike prey on. The snobs will look down their noses, the boss will patronize and exploit his employees, the mothers will nag and the fathers will hide. It's a darned heavy movie to depict all that, if you ask me. I think Stevens did a sensational job.

Okay, to harp a little more on Mr. Adams. MrGrimes...you say Mr Adams was right and things were just fine as they were, making Mrs Adams all wrong. But what about what I mentioned, how the house they lived in was practically falling down around their ears? It looked like a dilapidated shack and all it needed was attention...the kind of attention the men of the house were supposed to take care of or hire out. Paint, repairs, lawn care...all of that looks like it hasn't been done to the place since it was built. Why in heck did he let it go so long? I understand he was sick for some time, but this has been going on longer. So why didn't he whip that son of his into taking up some of that slack? I point all this out to show how he just didn't care about even the responsibiities that were his own. If he didn't want to be bothered as you say, and just put his nose in the paper when he got home, he needed to give his wife enough money to hire someone to care for the place. Otherwise, don't get married, buy a house and have kids if you can't afford to maintain a decent home. That place was falling apart, it was not satisfactory for anyone but a pig. And another thing, probably the most annoying quality about Mr. Adams is his sycophantic behavior about his employer. It was always "Mr So-and-So this" and "Mr So-and-So that", about a man who actually owed him something his by rights (that invention or formula). Adams wouldn't make a move in life without thinking if Mr So-and-So would approve. He acted like the man was a little tin god. I found it even more infuriating than anything else. Humility is one thing, and laudable, but this wasn't about that, this was putting his boss ahead of everything at home. I bring these things up to point out what the women of the house had to live with for years and years. He wasn't a "regular Joe". Regular Joe's do a much better job at fulfilling their responsibilities...and that has nothing to do with trying to live beyond their means.

Very well put, Jackie. I agree and I further believe both P&P and AA are critiques of the social structures that create these scenarios. They are not just critiques of the individuals, but something bigger. Today, Austen might critique the "trading up" mentality to marriage...it's still the same vanity and selfishness at work in societies that value status and materialism over character and values.

Jackie, You asked about what happened to Tom Neal. Talk about a loaded question. His is one of the most tragic stories ever to come out of Hollywood. His real life makes *Detour* seem a walk in the park. Here's the facts, as they appear at Wikipedia: Born in Evanston, Illinois, Thomas "Tom" Neal debuted on Broadway in 1935. In 1938 he first appeared in film in Out West with the Hardys, part of the Mickey Rooney "Hardy family" movie series. That same year, he received a law degree from Harvard University. While in college at Northwestern and Harvard Universities, Neal was a stand- out on the schools' boxing teams. He compiled a 44-3 (41 knockouts) ring record. So far, so good. Very promising, in fact. Neal appeared in many low budget B-movies in the 1940s/1950s. In 1941 he starred with Frances Gifford in the Republic Pictures 15 episode serial, *Jungle Girl*. Perhaps his most memorable role was that of Al Roberts in the classic film noir *Detour* alongside Ann Savage. They went on to make five movies together. (I didn't know they made more movies together, I wonder how they are.) Now here is where fate sticks its foot out: In 1951, he fought aristocratic actor Franchot Tone over their mutual girlfriend, actress Barbara Payton. Neal inflicted upon Tone a smashed cheekbone, a broken nose and a brain concussion. After the incident, Tone and Payton married, and Neal had a difficult time finding work. He ended up supporting himself landscaping and gardening. Payton left Tone after only seven weeks and returned to the troubled Neal. Their relationship lasted four years. Neal remarried almost immediately and in 1957 fathered a son, Tom Neal, Jr. His wife died the following year from cancer. In 1961, Neal married for the third time, to Gale Bennett. Four years later, he shot her in the back of the head with a .45-caliber gun, killing her instantly. He was arrested and, although prosecutors sought the death penalty, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in prison, of which he served six years. On December 7, 1971, he was released on parole. Less than a year later, Neal died of heart failure in North Hollywood, California at the age of 58 on August 7, 1972. He was cremated, and his ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. His aforementioned son, appeared in one film: playing the role of Al Roberts in a 1992 independent remake of *Detour*. (Talk about tempting "fate")

*Jack Carson and Eugene Pallette were funny. I did laugh at them. I couldn't get into Henry Fonda and I'm such a Fonda fan, too. The film was a mix of comedy and drama and I felt it wasn't a pleasing mix.* I can't disagree. I just thought the whole egghead angle would be up your alley. *When was the last time a movie hit your top 100? My goodness.* *The most recent are:* *84. Sidewalks of London* *87. Murder by Contract* *55. The Naked Kiss* *100. Secret Beyond the Door...* *88. Reign of Terror* *34. Kiss Me Deadly* *90. Devil's Doorway* Five out of seven are noirs! Two kisses, two doors. *Gee, I better watch it again, soon. I remember the ending being very sad but I'm fuzzy on the details.* *It's on TCM this Sunday at 10:45 AM.* Thanks. I hope I'll be awake for it. *I liked most of the performances and the tough message. I thought Eleanor Parker was great. She looked good, too. I really liked Agnes Moorehead, Betty Garde, and Ellen Corby. Hope Emerson was exceptional, of course. But in terms of a story, it's just not one I could grab onto.* The story was the problem? Why? I thought it was just that it was an all-female picture that bothered you. *I agree about Stone, I do not agree about her Mom though I do sympathize with some of her complaints.* *You would be all over your husband! "Why don't you make some real money?!"* I'm with Ro on this. The husband was a bit of a lay about. His whining got on my nerves. The mother was wrong at the bottom of it all because as you say, all her focus was on material things. But I don't see the father as a "regular Joe". Most "regular Joes" worked a lot harder than he did and had a little more self-respect. You take pride in your family and your home, not let it fall down around your ears like he did. By the way, I liked the brother, too. He was hilarious the way he kept making fun of his sister's airs. *Ain't that the truth. What I laughed at the most was when Rock was playing dumb about not being around women. And I loved his suit.* By the time he'd made this movie, Hudson really had learned comic timing. He's very funny and I agree he's very funny in *Send Me No Flowers*, too. You should watch it, Hudson's hypochonriac is hilarious. "Doc...I have a pain every time I press here." "Then don't press there." Ha! Edited by: MissGoddess on Aug 2, 2011 8:31 PM