clore
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Posts posted by clore
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>>I usually just watch the old movies on FMC
I was pretty much the same, but I made exceptions for a few titles in the "Legacy" series. The channel went to a pay tier as of July 1 on my Time-Warner cable, so since I've already seen most of the few oldies that they tend to schedule between 6am-12 noon, it wasn't worth the extra expense to me.
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I was watching the show when it was first-run, when it was alternating with episodes of BRONCO and CHEYENNE under the umbrella title of "The Cheyenne Show." I caught earlier episodes when they were airing on The American Life cable channel. It was weird seeing Hutchins as Sugarfoot with blond hair in the early shows - I'm so used to his darker coloring.
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Sophia Loren in OPERATION CROSSBOW is another to consider.
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>>The films on FMC are no less entertaining for being shown without hosts.
And it's annoying when Tom Rothmann comes on at the end of recent films aired in their "Legacy" series. Some legacy when the creators and participants in the film's production are squeezed to the bottom in order to present Rothmann. For older films it isn't an issue since there's just a "The End" card and the primary players listed.
Actually, it would not matter to me if TCM decided (when the times comes) to go without a host. Of late, most of what I hear has come from a film's IMDb trivia page, sometimes verbatim. I can do that on my own - and usually do before watching a film. At least on the IMDb, I can correct any errors that i spot and have done so many times, in addition to adding to the info given. I pat myself on the back when I hear it recited by Mankiewicz or Osborne.
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>>Is that in the show or the movie?
I've not seen the film, but I can't recall Will Hutchins doing it on the show. I did enjoy the series, Hutchins had sort of a James Stewart/Destry kind of appeal and overall the episodes were lighter than CHEYENNE but not to the same degree as MAVERICK.
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>>Suddenly TCM is the "Leonard Maltin Channel" and no longer Turner Classic Movies.
Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and let's face it, there is no more "Turner" in TCM anyway.
I like Bogdanovich, and would love to see him become more involved with the channel, perhaps in the form of the way Richard Schickel has been - as a producer/creator of specials.
I think that at this time, having established the brand, it becomes more important to think of the next generation as needing to be of a stature equal to the brand. Starting from scratch with someone "new" is difficult as the dye has been cast, and some familiarity between host and audience becomes crucial. To the viewing audience Osborne is a "somebody" now. It's somewhat similar to when George Lazenby took over from Sean Connery - the latter was a nobody when the series started, and the boxoffice on Lazenby's film was the lowest since the first chapter.
Connery then returned for one film and the take went way up - despite the film being of considerably lower quality than the Lazenby film or Connery's previous efforts. When Roger Moore stepped in, at least he had some familiarity from his tenure as "The Saint" and he went on to considerable success. His first two films were rather lackluster, it wasn't until his third outing that he reached a point that he made the character more his own.
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>>It seems to me that many folks think RO writes his own intros...or is even speaking off the cuff!
I'm willing to bet that many also think that he's watching the movie along with them.
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>>I don't think I've ever seen Sugarfoot...did it inspire the television show of the same name I wonder?
The two aren't connected, but because of the series, the film used to air on TV with the title SWIRL OF GLORY.
>>Funny, my Mom used to call me that when I was little. I wonder if she saw the movie or the show.
Did you ever stick a toe in her tea?
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>>No kidding. I think some just enjoy being silly and running with it. How the licensing of Maltin's material(s) for use on the website can be extrapolated into him being the successor to the throne is pretty irrational.
Silly? No, I was quite serious. The IMDb used to carry the links to Maltin's reviews, until the fee went up. If TCM is willing to pay the freight, while Maltin's comments really are somewhat superfluous, could hint strongly at their thought of his potential. After all, how many TCM viewers are already likely to have a copy of Maltin's guide close at hand - even if it isn't the most recent edition?
As for being "irrational" - since the definition of the word means "not consistent with or using reason" I would beg to differ. As established as Osborne is, that makes finding a successor that much more difficult. It would help to have someone with considerable credentials and at this point in time, when Maltin is about the same age as Osborne was when he started, Maltin has sold far many more books with his name on it.
Were Osborne really sitting on a "throne" it would make it a lot easier to name his successor. I may be reading tea leaves, but I still believe that Maltin is a likely contender. I could not help but notice how the promo for last month's "Critic's Choice" ended with him saying "the best channel on television." Had any of the other critics said that, it would carry less impact. Maltin is a household name, his acclamation carries weight.
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Peter Lorre in STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR may get the top of the list for me. He has the titular role, but few scenes as he owed RKO two days on a contract. Nevertheless, he makes his presence felt.
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>>If Wikipedia is right, Maltin is 18 years younger than Robert Osborne. If TCM can get a host who can last 18 years after Robert Osborne finally retires in 2057 ;-), good for them.
I should clarify that my speculation is just based on the presumption that when a man who is 78 years old is your primary player, it is perhaps wise to keep in mind that we are all mortal. Thus, it doesn't hurt for the present to have a good relationship with Leonard Maltin.
>>She's a month older than Maltin. (I wouldn't have guessed that.) Besides, she'll give the audience seizures.
As long as they keep her legs hidden, everything should be OK.
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First, thank you for the compliment. You don't have to like all of my posts, they are a mixture of opinion and fact and opinions are personal, thus open to dispute.
As for DVR recordings. I know so many people who crowd them up, only to have to delete stuff unseen in order to record something else which will possibly go unwatched. It is for similar reasons that I have forced myself to watch things when they air. It also enables me to speak here and in other forums about films that have aired recently. There is something to be said about knowing that so many others are watching something at the same time.
The trouble with this method is that I have tons of purchased DVDs that have gone unwatched. That's why the yearly Oscar schedule appeals to me - I've seen most of those things already and can catch up to some of the home collection.
I'll agree that there is some needed diversity. I enjoyed that about the fans chosen for the anniversary month and the different critics used last month.
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>>I didn't mean to suggest Maltin was ancient. But he definitely attracts the over 45 demographic.
But a young face isn't going to generate a younger audience for films made during the studio era. Perhaps in the peak years of Elvis or Michael Jackson, they might have enticed their fans to sample a film made a few generations ago, but how many have that kind of influence?
Ben Mankiewicz may be 40 years younger than Robert Osborne, but I highly doubt that his hosting a given film will change the demographic profile of the viewing audience. Really, ask yourself if you tune into a given title or a given host. Does it really make a difference? TCM had a host for the Underground Cinema and I thought that Rod Zombie lived up to his name. Is anyone really going to tune in at 2am in the morning just because some particular person is hosting?
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>>It's not just his westerns, too...his final film, The Naked Edge, was a departure in many ways.
Add THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE to the list also. Some of his 50s westerns, particularly DALLAS and SPRINGFIELD RIFLE are relatively weak. There's not much to distinguish them from the westerns that Randolph Scott was making for Warners during the same period except that Cooper certainly cost more than Scott.
But, just top stay on topic, I would love to see the 1932 LAW AND ORDER on TCM. Those that have seen this tell me it's one of the best variants on the OK Corral theme and as it's one of the few "class" films to have Edward L. Cahn's name on it, I'd love to see it showcased.
Randolph Scott's SUGARFOOT is the only western that he made from 1939 on that I've not seen.
WINGS OF THE HAWK has Van Heflin as the adventurer in a Mexican revolution tale and it's directed by Budd Boetticher. He's also caught between Julie Adams and Abbe Lane which isn't a bad predicament.
THE WALKLING HILLS is a great, unsung Scott western directed by John Sturges in his early days. It packs a lot into its 78 minutes and the cast includes Ella Raines, John Ireland and Arthur Kennedy. This is a review that I posted on the IMDb a number of years ago:
A very rewarding "lust for gold" adventure that tells its story in a brief 78 minutes and is all the better for it. Director John Sturges would later in his career allow some of his films to run overlong (THE GREAT ESCAPE) or blow up what should have been more simply told (GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL - the depicted gunfight itself is but one example), but earlier in his career made a number of lean, taut treasures, this is one of them.
A group of people are bound together in the search for some wagons believed to have been lost in the desert a century earlier, and the legend has it that gold was on them. When the youngest of them happens to mention something spotted in the desert, the need for secrecy binds the group together lest someone reveal the "golden opportunity." Several in the group have pasts that they are trying to hide and potential futures they are trying to escape if caught. One of them is a detective hot on a fugitive's trail, but willing to set aside duty for his share of the loot.
Randolph Scott headlines as the more or less moral center of the group, even if his intentions and actions seem to defy that description. For a slightly less than "A" feature, the film boasts an admirable cast of characters, among them Ella Raines, John Ireland, Arthur Kennedy, Edgar Buchanan (scene stealing as usual) and blues/folk revivalist singer Josh White whose musical contributions to the film capture a legendary performer for posterity on film. William Bishop, a young man whom Columbia was grooming for stardom (but who failed to click and would soon "descend" to mostly TV work) is the least familiar perhaps of the major actors, but he's impressive enough here for one to wish he had done better within the ten years that he had left before cancer took him at 41.
An interesting subplot has Scott's mare about to foal - a metaphor for new life or spiritual rebirth being created among the desert ruins. It gives nothing away to reveal that the fugitive surrenders or that some characters realize that gold fever can cause one to suspend principles - the latter is expected in such melodramas. But with its stunning black-and-white cinematography, especially in night scenes and the climatic desert storm, this film is as much of a treasure as that which its protagonists seek. Camera ace Charles Lawton must have impressed Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown as he would do five more films with the pair in the next decade. Highly recommended.
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Maltin isn't that old - I first met him when we were both 15 (well, I was a few months away) and were introduced to each other by the editor of "Castle of Frankenstein" magazine. I just hit 59 a couple of weeks ago, so perhaps i'm sensitive. To get over some of the expected backlash to any eventual replacement for Osborne, it would help to have a name as recognizable.
As far as a female host, it seems that Mary Hart is out of a job and while she isn't known for being a film historian, she's a marketable name, certainly more so than Ben Mankiewicz.
As far as Lithgow is concerned, I'll be happy if they sack whoever directs those intros with that creepy insistence on putting him in profile while talking. At least this year's selections were an improvement - I'd love to have been there when someone made the case for TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and NOTORIOUS being included the previous year.
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>>That's a fascinating description which should tempt some Mann fans around here
into watching.
Well, thank you for that. I'd agree that Doc Frail is kin to Linc Jones. It's interesting that in his last westerns, Cooper really tried to get away from the straight-as-an-arrow image. Even in VERA CRUZ he's a man willing to compromise a few scruples in order to amass a fortune to go home and rebuild his plantation.
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I'm willing to bet that he's being groomed as the replacement for Robert Osborne. I hope that if that happens, he brings along his own set of researchers.
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>>It looks like TCMprogrammr DID listen, for my number one request is about to be granted:
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>>at long last...
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>>The Hanging Tree
You and me both MissGoddess. I note however that there is no reference to a letterboxed edition being aired and the film was originally screened at the 1.85:1 ratio.
Please, please, please Mr. Programmer, do what you can to provide us with the proper ratio. Ted McCord's cinematography for this film deserves nothing less.
I often refer to this film as the best Anthony Mann western directed by someone else.
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I do believe that they have the wrong info for UNDER THE VOLCANO which is airing on the 28th of February.
Under the Volcano (1984)
Japanese villagers trap a visiting scientist and force him to live with a woman on a mysterious farm. Cast: Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida, Hiroko Ito. Dir: Hiroshi Teshigahara. C-123 mins,
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Well, if for nothing else, I'm glad to see that THE HANGING TREE will air. Hopefully it will be letterboxed.
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>>Burt Lancaster as ELMER GANTRY. No one else has that magnetic charisma. He's perfect in that role.
I can actually see Robert Preston in that part, but then, I don't see much difference between the characters of Gantry and Harold Hill.
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>>Thanks for the information, Clore. I had forgotten that there were so many former Universal actors that went to Warners.
You're welcome. I probably forgot a few, but it was as if Warners wanted to capitalize off Universal's training school. I can still recall the first time that I saw Ray Danton. It was an episode of 77 SUNSET STRIP in 1959, then I began to notice him on the other Warner shows and a year later in LEGS DIAMOND.
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>>Still waiting to see Edward Arnold as Nero Wolfe! One of these days...
I saw the Arnold film many years ago, barely remember a thing about it though. It was followed by a sequel with Walter Connolly and that one has yet to be seen by moi.
As long as we're mentioning Edward Arnold, let's throw in his blind detective Duncan Maclain of EYES IN THE NIGHT and THE HIDDEN EYE.
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Zach made the rounds in NYC. He went from WABC to WOR to WPIX.
He also had a turn on our first UHF station on a show called DISC-O-TEEN.
WOR was known as the ""Movies and Mets" station for a long time as that was pretty much the bulk of their schedule.
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