VP19

> {quote:title=phroso wrote:}{quote} > Good choice, Miss Nicole, and welcome to the boards. It's one of the five funniest movies I've ever seen. "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek" is wonderfully subversive; it's probably as close as one could get to seeing a pre-Code sensibility during the sanctimonious forties, and I still wonder how Sturges got away with it. Moreover, it's probably my favorite performance by both Hutton and Bracken. I also welcome you to the boards. Hope we'll see you often.

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > Chief, > > I think in the years between *Cameo Kirby* and *Only Angels Have Wings*, Jean Arthur got a major make-over by the studio make-up artists. Heck, "Cameo Kirby" came six years before "The Saturday Night Kid," the earliest movie I know by Jean Arthur (she and another Jean -- Harlow -- played supporting roles in that Clara Bow vehicle).

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > The skin tones are perfect and anything that is red is great but noticed the vegetation i.e. the trees? Its a blueish-gray in color. That was an inherent problem with two-strip Technicolor; deep blues were next to impossible to present. Not until the mid-thirties and three-strip Technicolor was this solved, and the earlier woes of the two-strip process caused the public to be skeptical of color films for a few years.

Just wrote an entry at my blog with my thoughts on the series and some of the things it has overlooked or erred: http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/355978.html

Anyone here who went to Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., in the early 1960s? I ask that because one of its most famous alums, Goldie Hawn (class of '63), celebrates her 65th birthday today. (For you young folks, Hawn is Kate Hudson's mom, and during her heyday was as sexy and leggy as Kate is now. Heck, in her mid-60s Goldie still looks pretty good.)

> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote} > Well I am sure there are people who agree with you as well. Like I said in my previous post I feel Screwball Comedy (like Film Noir) is just something that is very hard to pin down and there might not be one agreed upon list of films (and like Film Noir the movies also came out during a specific period of time). > > I just wanted to point out that I am certainly not the only one that thinks of It Happened One Night as a screwball comedy. But I could also say that perhaps the reason it doesn't seem as screwballish as some later examples is because it is the first and some of the other Screwball Comedy elements might have developed later (in my list of Screwball Elements that IHON has I forgot to mention that Claudette is the *rich heiress* character) > > Anyways this was one book I really liked that talked about Screwball Comedies > > http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Comedy-Hollywood-Lubitsch-Sturges/dp/0306808323/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1290208734&sr=8-1 > > And actually do think there is a fine line between romantic comedies and screwball comedies. I guess screwball comedies are a type of romantic comedy. Although I do think they usually focus more on the comedy than the romance. I heartily recommend that James Harvey book on romantic comedy; it's one of my favorite books on classic Hollywood. I am sort of a bit surprised that TCM isn't using "My Man Godfrey" as an illustration of both screwball comedy and themes of film during the Depression (although by 1936, when "Godfrey" was made, the economy had recovered somewhat, save for a brief dip or two; full recovery wouldn't occur until World War II boosted industrial production).

It should be noted that a few years after "The Birth Of A Nation" led to the revival of the Klan, it changed course a bit, soft-pedaling its racial angles in order to appeal to non-Southern constituencies. It wrapped itself in the flag, emphasizing "Americanism" (aka Protestantism); rather than making blacks its figurative target, its objects of scorn were Jews and especially Catholics. This is how the Klan grew to be such a force in the 1920s in states such as Indiana. Only some scandals led to the Indiana Klan's downfall.

"Her Wild Oat" would be a treat for many reasons, not the least of which would be to see 14-year-old Loretta Young in a bit part.

Please, TCM, show some Clara Bow, Colleen Moore and Constance Talmadge films in your "Silent Sunday Nights" package. (Wouldn't mind seeing a Dorothy Gish comedy or two as well.)

I am certain TimeWarner (owners of TCM) negotiated the DVD rights with owners of the footage the series used. This is not like what happened with "Hollywood" or certain TV series; for example, because of problems securing music rights for DVD, episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati" that have been released often have significantly different music than when they first aired, differences that drastically alter the episodes. (Think of the classic "dropping of the turkeys" episode, for instance.)

Based upon what I've seen so far, as a Carole Lombard fan, I have this horrid feeling she will be ignored in chapter 4, and that screwball comedy will solely be illustrated by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in "Bringing Up Baby."

The silent films were there for a reason: to illustrate the developments and changes in the industry. It's true that silents have a different "language" than talking films, and for many of us the differences are difficult to understand, or accept. But once you realize their particular artistry, and the talent of people like Pickford, Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton, Davies, the Talmadges, the Gishes, etc., you can fully appreciate the medium. It's a far cry from the "flickers" we were told silents were in our youth.

Nice pic of Stewart and Stanwyck, two of the most versatile actors of classic Hollywood; I don't believe they ever made a film together, which is our loss.

A good episode, with one huge mistake. Louise Brooks did NOT popularize the page-boy hairstyle of the 1920s; that honor belonged to Colleen Moore, who 1) wore it several years before Brooks; 2) was a far bigger star than Brooks, especially in America; and 3) wasn't even mentioned during the episode (her fame during the 1920s was about the same as Clara Bow's). What gives, TCM?

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > A lot of his attention was also focused on "getting" as many Hollywood women as possible. And he probably got more than any other man in Hollywood history. Not many people are aware of this, but according to biographer Larry Swindell, Carole Lombard lost her virginity to Hughes in the late 1920s.

I loved the 1894 film of cats "boxing" (probably some vaudeville act that visited the Black Maria). Think of it -- funny cat videos were around nearly 110 years before YouTube.

I'm still trying to figure out why Paul Lukas, of all people, was cast as Philo Vance. While a capable actor, his accent renders him impossible to take seriously.

Getting back to Eleanor Parker, I thought she was okay in the role, and certainly had good chemistry with MacMurray. But as was usually the case with post-1941 screwball, the writing was spotty and the female character more often than not were made to look silly, not strong. I agree Parker was no Lombard (who would have been nearing 43 when this was released in September 1951) or Jean Arthur, but she doesn't embarrass herself, either. The conditions simply weren't right to produce first-rate screwball.

Some good stuff so far, but some inexplicable omissions. Why was nothing said about the first movie star known by name, Florence Lawrence? (And I concur with the fear that Constance and Norma Talmadge will be ignored in part 3, and that we will likely see more screen time devoted to Louise Brooks, who was at most a star with the late twenties equivalent of the art-house crowd, than Colleen Moore.)

The Los Angeles Times reported that TCM, in conjunction with this series, recently surveyed 1,000 people to see how current films measure up against those of the classic era http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/10/hollywood-tcm-classic-angelina-jolie-marilyn-monroe-bogart.html. Does anyone know where can I find the complete results of this survey?

A couple choices from the pre-World War II era: Carole Lombard Myrna Loy Constance Bennett Marion Davies And from more recent times: Julie Newmar Goldie Hawn Michelle Pfeiffer Catherine Zeta-Jones

I have a friend who once had a white cat named Jean Harlow. Also, once I saw a letter in a magazine from someone who was a fan of the Thin Man films and had two wire terriers named Powell and Loy.

If time travel is invented, someone from TCM needs to go back, retrieve as many "lost" films as possible, then bring them back to be introduced by Robert Osborne. (And, while they're at it, bring a few stars back with them as guest programmers!)

I work evenings -- but I'm ever so thankful I have Mondays off.

When I moved in April, I switched from cable to DirecTV because the cable system in my new area didn't carry the sports network (MASN) that had my favorite baseball team (Nationals). Thankfully, DirecTV also carries TCM (and I now also watch Fox Movie Channel every now and then, something I didn't have earlier). I believe TCM is part of every DirecTV viewing level.