cinemafan

a little more Ben. I enlarged it, so it's not as sharp as it could be. But, we'll take what we can get. JackF and Miss G - I do believe we have gathered enough photos to make a Ben calendar! For personal use only, of course.

JackF - You mean this one?? P.S. Miss G - any breakup would have to be "no fault" in this case.. > {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote} > Howdy, MissFavell, I mean Johnson. I made this little animation for you > out of the screencaps you posted a while back. enjoy! > >

Ok, JackF - you've gone and outdone yourself! What great finds! Ben looks so happy doing what he grew up doing and kept doing all his life. Those photos deserve to be show *BIG!*

ham, I thought of you when I heard about this on the radio today - *moon bouncing*. Were you in on this? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/technology/27moon.html

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote} > I can't believe you remember that! I loved square dancing.... Do you remember some of the songs you danced to? The only song I can remember from those classes is "Somethin' Stupid" by Nancy Sinatra.....how bizarre is that? going off topic of Ben here! We danced to old fashioned square dance songs - no Nancy Sinatra in my day! Swing your partner round and round, do-si-do, allemande left, allemande right, circle left and right, promenade left and right, sashay. We to pay attention and listen or you would be lost. I believe back then it was part of school life because it was a combination of U.S. History, dance, and social skills.

Jack F. - No problem, the more photos, the better! I enjoy your screencaps tremendously - I don't have the skill to do that. So, keep 'em coming. From my memories of 6th grade square dancing, looks like they're doing an allemande and Dobe is waiting for her to come around again, or he just let her go.

>{quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote} > What's the count, Cinemafan? -- FrankG - re: The Best Years or Our Lives - watch > it - you can handle it. (sorry if that sounds like an order!) > > I like demanding women, so you watch it. Thank you for your seal of approval. It carries a lot of weight with me, unlike that of Miss G's. John Ford and Gary Cooper? Are you kidding me? > > And I love that you are posting more. Frank, the count is 571 now. Re: my posting more - 1. it's summertime and the living is easier. 2. you know how is when your home away from home is threatened - you have to be more active. 3. there has to be a little seriousness amongst all this hot air. I don't think I'll ever change my style, though. I'm much more a reader and listener than a writer. So, keep writing! (sorry - sounds like another order!)

photos of Ben are so hard to come by! Here's one of an unidentified lucky young lady with Dobe and Ben.

FrankG - re: *The Best Years or Our Lives* - watch it - you can handle it. (sorry if that sounds like an order!)

hey molo, thanks for that info - never would have noticed it myself. I'm with you, we can put off housekeeping for a while longer. Ydobon, just be grateful it's only double the work and not thirty fold.

JackF. Thanks for posting that -(The Ben Johnson Memorial Award) - that's the one I couldn't find anywhere. I did find out that the man who created it lives not far from me - Mehl Lawson. Now I don't have to contact him to see what it looks like!

Let's lighten things up here a bit. Here's a poster for one of Ben's charity rodeos. It's a little muddy, but here it is.

hey patful, double check that last handle. There's *(surprise!)* *many, many* here, but that one ain't one of 'em. Same old story, same old song and dance.

> {quote:title=HollywoodGolightly wrote:}{quote} and it's very true that perhaps they do want the people who regularly use the forums to consider migrating to the CFU > Of course I realize not everybody feels this way, and I suppose some folks at TCM do, too. > >possible that maybe TCM doesn't have more resources that it can dedicate to the project, so that it may be limited to having a smaller number of web folks working on this than they'd like to, ideally. > As I said before, you have the Silver Screen Oasis message board, which even though it's had technical problems before, seems to be working just fine now. People don't seem to be having a hard time logging in and posting to their heart's content there, at least as far as I can see lurking there occasionally. This could be a good time to encourage other TCM viewers to give it a try, because there are a lot of good discussions going on at the SSO, as well. > In this day and age, there are also many other web sites that allow just about anyone to set up their own message board in a matter of minutes, at no real cost to them. It's not that hard to come up with temporary solutions while this problem is being worked on (and I do believe they do want to have everything running smoothly ASAP). That's 3 more suppostitions you just made on behalf of TCM. Plus one more mention of another board! Unless you have me on Ignore, I'd like to know if you work for TCM in any capacity. You act as if you were a spokeperson for them. There's another board you can also bring up - the one started by an angry troll who was kicked off of these boards -TCMFans.ning. Why don't you push that one here?

Holly, do you work for TCM in some way? You always sound as if you know behind the scene things that no one else does. Are you speaking for them? It sounds like it. I don't think anyone here cares whether they can edit a post after 24 hours. Most of us mean what we say the first time, and take care to post careful thoughts. That is the least of our concerns. *We just want to be able to log on, read, and post*. For some reason, you always seem to bring up another message board, you've done it repeatedly. We are not talking about another board, we are talking about *this board*. It makes no sense for you to keep bringing up another board. What that has to do with this thread subject, I have no clue. *This board.* *TCM Message Boards.* If whoever is in charge of this malfunctioning is frustrated, I'd like to hear it from them, yet it's been weeks with no updates on anything.

CSjr - ok, ok, nobody's perfect! Thanks for that info, I will check it out. But, it sounds as if Newman kept coming back for more!

gagman, no matter how much trouble you have, keep trying! That's some good stuff you have. I'm "babysitting" tonight and the kids just went to sleep, so I'm able to use the parents' up to date computer with a huge screen. woohoo! The colors on those covers pf Photoplay and Motion Picture Classic are so vivid. Beautiful! Thanks.

As someone who loves movies from growing up watching them, and never taking a film class or studied film in any way - this documentary was interesting because it truly took you behind the scenes. I can see how some directors were autocrats - they had to be to get what they wanted. Then some were like George Stevens - he would listen to you and then do what he wanted. He sounded like a joy to work with. Listening and getting the job done, and done very well. I had tears in my eyes during a couple of parts - one showing the extreme ugliness of the world we live in, and the other showing just the opposite - the beauty, humor and love that exists if we look for it. He looked as if he aged a lot after WWII. I don't think that anyone had a bad word to say about him; of course, his son made the documentary, but he seemed like a genuinely nice person and happy father. I'd seen so many of his films before I even realized his name. Now I definitely know the name *George Stevens.*

Great find, JackF! We are getting quite a collection here. I am working on a few more things to add, from books I got from the library. I found this online, courtesy *Tulsa World.* It has some nice insight on his life. *Actor Buried Near Pawhuska* By Staff Reports Published: 4/15/1996 Last Modified: 2/27/2007 8:35 AM PAWHUSKA (AP) -- Ben Johnson's hometown friends remembered him as a genuine cowboy unchanged by Hollywood fame as they laid him to rest Sunday next his wife on the prairie where he grew up riding and roping. More than 400 mourners gathered under sunny skies at a cemetery near this small northeastern Oklahoma town to honor the Oscar-winning actor they knew by the nickname, "Son." "He was not a movie star. He was Ben Johnson and that is why this man was great," said Clem McSpadden, a former Oklahoma congressman who befriended Johnson during his days as a champion rodeo performer. The star of more than 300 films, mostly Westerns, died Monday of an apparent heart attack in Mesa, Ariz., at age 77. About 500 people attended his funeral Thursday in Mesa. Strong winds whipped the canopy where Johnson's family gathered in front of a daisy- and carnation-covered casket Sunday for a final goodbye. Several men clutched their cowboy hats to their chests as a single fiddle sounded the twanging notes of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." Many of the mourners grew up with Johnson and said he stayed true to his Oklahoma roots. Johnson got his first big break in 1939. He drove a load of horses by truck to California for use in "The Outlaw" and was hired as the film's horse wrangler. He was working as a double and stuntman when he was discovered by director John Ford, who cast him as a cavalry sergeant in two of his films and gave him the starring role in "The Wagon Master." But it was a non-Western that brought Johnson an Academy Award in 1971. He won best supporting actor for his role as a poolroom operator in "The Last Picture Show." Johnson was born in nearby Foraker and was reared on the Chapman-Bernard Ranch. He won a World Champion Cowboy title in 1953 and returned regularly to Oklahoma for the Ben Johnson Celebrity Rodeo he started in 1985 to raise money to benefit Children's Medical Research Inc. Johnson was buried next to his wife of 54 years, Carol, who died in 1994. He is survived by his 95-year-old mother, Ollie Rider, a sister, two nephews and a niece. By Staff Reports

Well, Ben should have been in *The Seachers*, anyway. Come to think of it, I don't know if he wore spurs or not. It's not something I remember seeing. Ben and Harry, Jr. (Dobe) again. Those have got to be the best chaps Ben's got on.

> {quote:title=TikiSoo wrote:}{quote} > You can't rely on TV to completely fill your life, can you? > > Sorry, but even a day of films I'm not wholly interested in still beats other network's offerings. Some soundtracks make excellent backround listening for dull household chores. And catching up on recorded movies is another great substitute! > > I've watched the schlock other channels offer just once just to see what all the hub bub is about. A millionth viewing of Treasure of the Sierra Madre sure beats out Jon & Kate Plus 8 for me every time. > Tiki Soo - It's nice to know others do that too - work around the house with TCM on in the background. I've seen today's lineup (An American in Paris, Gigi) many times, but enjoy having them on - must be a little like books-on-tape. I just finished wrestling my bike out of storage, and pumped up the tires for the summer. Now to hop on and get this kink out of my back from sitting watching movies and computing. I tried to post this in the morning, but couldn't. So here it is now. I'm back from my errands on the bike.

Thanks, coopsgirl! This thread has been a highlight for me for years! You have a great eye for detail. I will take the liberty of wishing that we had a video of Ben Johnson (oh oh - off topic!) like the ones you made for Gary. Maybe we could commission one (only half joking!).

> {quote:title=HollywoodGolightly wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=ken123 wrote:}{quote} > > Miss Goddess _ Thank You for starting the Robert Ryan. Those Irishmen from Chicago ARE GREAT, especially THE LIBERAL ONES. > > Was he, in fact, a liberal? That is interesting. If you had read the original post by Miss Goddess, you would know that he was a liberal. There is also a link provided for more in-depth info on Robert Ryan, if you are interested. There is a wealth of information here, which is why I like to visit here. Ironically, of all the posts you dredged up last night and reposted - most of those posters do not post here anymore (rarely, if ever). I believe they were discouraged by an angry troll, one who has been bent on destroying threads and as a result, this Board, for years now.

> {quote:title=coopsgirl wrote:}{quote} > *Gary at party in 1933 with Leslie Howard* > > > > *Legion of the Condemned* > > So nice to see actual photos of Gary Cooper in a Gary Cooper thread!

I started watching in the middle of *Goodfellas*, and couldn't stop watching. I'll never look at Joe Pesci in the same way - that mouth! A case of soap, please!