clore

Was it Alan Enterprises? I know that Color Systems Technology got them from one of those small syndicators, I thought it was Con Hartsock. There was room then for the "little guys" - like Leo Gutman. I worked as the Director of Broadcast Administration for WCBS from 1988-90. I was there when Jim Jensen was going through his troubles and took a lot of phone calls from irate viewers about that. His habits hurt no one but himself, personally I always found him to be quite the gentleman. I used to tease him because he would get his breakfast from the basement cafeteria and whenever I'd run into him, he would have two different brands of cereal on his tray that he would mix together.

Creating ids sounds pretty Freudian to me. It's actually the plural of id, and you know what Walter Pidgeon's id was responsible for in FORBIDDEN PLANET. Those ids will take over the world.

EXCEPT, of course, I have to say I agree with Casa's point about the B-17 scene with the score imagining each Wright Cylone Radial engine(that are no longer there, of course) startin' up. THAT is perfectly volumed. I have to agree there, but as I said it is only with some scenes that I find it too loud. I was discussing this with a friend of mine and he says that a lot of films in the digiital format suffer from this. Somehow the range is such that soft sounds are softer and loud ones are louder and that it mostly affects the soundtracks to recent films. I do notice that when I watch recent films on TV, I'm constantly playing with the remote as the scores need lowering and the dialogue passages need raising. Again, not all films but then I don't tend to dwell on the high-tech comic book adaptations.

Maybe you need a break from watching it so you don't pick it apart out of familiarity. I let the whole effect wash over me fresh after taking a break. In fact, there was a 3-4 year period when I didn't watch Casablanca for that reason. Actually, I saw it recently for the first time in about five years. I had never noticed the score being so loud before - in certain scenes, and neither did the woman who was watching it with me, a longtime film buff herself. I know this often happens with certain Warner scores of the period, but it was the first time that I noticed it with this film, which I even saw once at a big screen revival. I don't dislike the score, I just found it too loud in some scenes. There were Homer and Wilma and it late at night and they're in his room and I could not help but think that the music was going to wake everyone else up. It's a delicate scene and the music goes well, just too much volume per my ears. But I know what you mean about having to step away from some films after seeing them too often. On the other hand, I've seen HIGH NOON about 50 times and it just keeps getting better, the same for THE MALTESE FALCON which I've seen at least 35 times.

I have no way of knowing if this is true, or a joke by Mankiewicz, or not, but an individual that I trust told me that she and her husband were at a restaurant where Ben Mankiewicz and his wife were, and that Mankiewicz and wife were laughing and bragging to their dinner guests that they create ids on the TCM message boards to promote Ben, as he does not have many employment options available outside of TCM. I was at a restaurant and I heard a guy saying that he wants Ben's job, so now he's creating IDs to go on the message boards and proclaim what a poor job Ben is doing.

They really should do a DVD box of the Dennis O'Keefe / Allan Dwan pictures. Just who controls those films now? For some reason, I have it in my head that an outfit known as Con Hartsock had them in the 80s, but that Color Systems Technology picked up their catalog. It gets messier - CST then entered into a joint venture with Screen Gems to distribute colorized movies, but the package wasn't to include any Columbia titles as David Puttnam was dead set against colorization. But when Coca-Cola was selling Columbia, they sacked divisions and Screen Gems disappeared. I was working there then. A few years later, I was working at WCBS and a Columbia rep cvalled and said they wanted to show me their package of colorized movies. I mentioned a few titles and I was asked "how did you know?" "I was the one who selected them" was my answer. But we were gone long before they were colorized. I didn't include any of the Dwan/O'Keefe titles, I went for things from the Edward Small catalogue that were colorful in subject matter - the only way that I could accomplish a task that I did not relish. So, it was things such as *Daniel Boone* with George O'Brien and *Kit Carson* with Jon Hall. I'm going back 25 years so some of the details are hazy. I'm fairly certain that some Louis Hayward and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. costume dramas were also included. But I would not go for including *Raw Deal* or *T-Men*.

Does anyone know the name of the actor in it who was also in Lady from Shanghai? (he played the married guy who was leading the actress on). That's Glenn Anders.

What he's trying to say is that TCM shows zero, zilch, nada films by Bunuel. Right up there with his insistence that Hollywood never used women directors in the studio era. TCM has also aired BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN so once again he's making claims that have no basis in fact.

Ray Teal just didn't know how to deal with a handicapped person. Marlon Brando decked him in THE MEN because of his patronizing attitude.

So, anybody around here wanna venture a guess about this?! Do ya maybe think the score is sometimes cranked up really loud in order to elicit all these here tears? I couldn't agree more. It's the only thing that I dislike about the film. The characters, the situations - they're enough to elicit my reactions. Friedhofer's score is too obvious in its punctuation of each little detail. It should compliment the scene, not overwhelm it.

I noticed that outros that were aired on Robert Wagner's first night were used later in the week. They must have shot two days worth of intros with him in the very pale yellow suit, but used the same outros since they were generic anyway.

Does Tippi not give outros, only intros? After THE UNFAITHFUL, she came on and only said that RO is taking a, you guessed it, well-deserved rest. Every outro that I saw with any of the three guest hosts did not refer to the movie just aired. There was a "my friend Bob is taking a rest" mention followed by "and he'll be back soon with more classics like the one you just saw and the one which we will have in a few minutes so stick around."

There's also..,. The Super Cops Badge 373 Across 110th Street Night of the Juggler Shaft Panic in Needle Park The Hot Rock

I would have loved to see the Godfather movies, TCM might have had the highest ratings on cable. AMC has them locked up until December 31, 2019.

Some films will really fool you. Take Boetticher's *The Tall T.* We start out with what looks as if it's going to be a light-hearted western. Randolph Scott is grinning, having good times with the father and son at the way station as well as with Arthur Hunnicutt. Then he makes a wager with his old employer, tries to ride a wild one and lands on his butt, and loses his horse in the process. However it's all very much played for amusement. But when he returns to the way station after being picked up while walking on the road, the film does one of the most incredible 180s that I've seen in any film and there's a valid change in Scott's demeanor. Yet it's seemless, we're so caught up in the characters we've met that we instantly have a hatred for Richard Boone and company and Scott serves as our proxy as we do want vengeance. All in 77 minutes or so.

Still, it all depends on what one is used to seeing. *High Noon* is my favorite western and one of my favorite films since I first saw it on the day that Gary Cooper died. I wasn't even ten years old yet, but I knew this was something special. You don't want to know how many times i've seen it, but probably more times than any other film. Still, it tears at me when I see complaints about the film that the first hour is nothing but talking and then all that talk was about nothing since the good guy wins fairly easily anyway. Whatcha gonna do? Still, I do prefer films that draw me in like a newspaper story. Give me the who, what, where, why and when up front, a good set-up in other words. Then if you take your time unraveling the story, I don't care. *The Best Years of Their Lives* runs almost three hours, but the initial set-up throws the three characters at you, three obviously diverse types and you can't help but relate to at least one of them. From there we go in three directions, every once in a while we return to the nucleus of three.

This received great reviews when it came out, many cited it as the equal of the Spade and Marlowe films of the 40s. I thought that any weekly episode of Mannix was superior (I didn't catch up to it until 1968). Decent cast, some good bits in the supporting roles but if it didn't have Newman in it, the film would have faded away quickly. Meanwhile, no one remembers a George Peppard film from 1968 titled *P.J.* which was superior to *Harper* and *Tony Rome* but unceremoniously dumped into neighborhood theaters by Universal.

My TV will be getting a 24 hour rest during Brando day. Mine also. There are some that I would like to see, if only because I saw them 40 years ago or more - *The Ugly American* and *The Young Lions* come to mind. Unfortunately, most of the schedule is filled with the ones that air constantly anyway.

Please do not remake this film, hasn't Hollywood done enough damage with crappy remakes? Too late, by close to 40 years. There was a TV movie remake: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073625/

I'm sure that Cheryl Crane would like to be the one holding the whip.

The last two Scott films are airing in October.

Thank you. Ya know, I should have thought of THE RED PONY, especially since it was on one of my HBO channels one morning earlier this week. I didn't watch it though - I had been up all night and just had to get some sleep. I wanted to, but it must have been about 7am and even this insomniac has to sleep sometimes. It's a great film and I'm always a sucker for a horse story. Of course the film is more than that and there's also the Aaron Copland score. Louis Calhern wears me down, but that's a minor complaint. It could have been worse, he could have been my grandfather.

'Of Mice and Men' begins with a scene (fleeing from a mob) that runs a few minutes, and then the opening credits come up. Was this not the first time that had beeen done? Without looking up which came first, there is a similar opening to DESTRY RIDES AGAIN which came out the same year. That's not to say that one influenced the other, it could be that both directors had a similar thought at the same time. I first saw the film when I was about nine or ten. I cried at the end and even as I approach sixty, I still get tears in my eyes at the end. I've seen three other versions of it on film, none of them has that power. In fact the most recent version with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich almost throws that scene away. Goodness, the POV shots during the battle in tonight's film are fantastic. This is one that does get better with each viewing.

Robert Walker narrated the end of "My Son John" after both he and his character were dead. He used a tape recorder I was about ten years old when I saw that film and all I could notice at that age was that it was dull. Mind you, I loved CASABLANCA and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON at the same age, so it wasn't a matter of needing some fistfights or gun battles. WB did me a favor and it took nearly 50 years for me to get a chance to see it again. I tried to watch it when TCM aired it a year or two ago, I made it about an hour into it but it was too heavy-handed for me. Narration is normal, but narration from a supposedly dead character is not common. Now perhaps I was influenced by something that I read when I was young and before I saw the fim, but I do find it highly distinctive thus when it happens, it's highly noticeable as going against the grain. To that end, I can well understand that someone in 1951 might have expected that some trick ending was coming. She wrote of what she felt then and as she had no precedent, her reaction is understandable. On the other hand, I can well understand someone watching IT HAPPENED TOMORROW as thinking that the whole plot line of Powell's reading his own obit as having no suspense or tension at all. The film opens up with his character all aged and wrinkled and the whole story is a flashback. Obviously the obit can't come true.

Milestone doesn't get enough credit. His version of THE FRONT PAGE may not be as technically slick as the Hawks revamp, but it incredibly advanced for a film made in 1931 and every bit as fast with its dialogue. It's just a shame that the public domain prints don't do it justice. Besides tonight's film, Milestone also made a great WWII film with A WALK IN THE SUN and THE PURPLE HEART is also a most effective prisoner-of-war drama,. He also made PORK CHOP HILL so he's covered the first three wars of the 20th century. OF MICE AND MEN is one of the greatest literary adaptations ever. It's just unfortunate that it came out in the banner year of 1939 otherwise I'm certain there would be Oscars on the balance sheet. STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS shows him quite able to handle noir elements and HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM is an admirable early musical - he seems able to thrive in all genres. He did what he could for the 1962 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, it certainly looks great even if it does have a controversial performance by its leading man. I haven't even touched upon his silent films, but I'll take his version of THE RACKET over the sound remake and TWO ARABIAN NIGHTS has some scenes that seem to be a trial run for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT although it is a comedy. But the way it goes is that he's not considered an auteur, so critics have overlooked his contributions. Well, there's also something to be said for someone who managed to survive in the studio era for 40 years and direct some genuine classics along the way.