nightwalker
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Posts posted by nightwalker
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It could be ARMORED COMMAND from 1961, with Howard Keel & Tina Louise.
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Surely another film for which the term "kitsch" must have been invented!
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Glad you enjoyed it, Bronxie. As I said, a satisfying Stewart movie most of the way. And yes, I agree that he really does blow the younger cast members off the screen.
SPOILER ALERT:
I think you might have misunderstood what I referring to earlier, Bronxie. I was talking about Stewart's (to me) totally unrealistic response to Glenn Corbett's killer. To me, Stewart, in spite of his experiences during the film's course of events, would still be more likely to blow him away or at least demonstrate his extreme dissatisfaction with that occurrence in some way, rather than basically accepting him into the family, possibly as a surrogate figure for Corbett.
In any case, that scene just didn't ring true for me. If it did for you, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one!
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P.S. Let's hear what you think of SHENANDOAH if and when you catch it!
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I don't know that I'd go as far to to say that, Bronxie, but it is the "least" of his Hitchcock appearances, imo. I think the problem is that there's nothing exclusively "Stewart" in the part, and it's one many actors could have played.
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There's one: JAMES STEWART: A WONDERFUL LIFE from 1987, hosted by Johnny Carson.
Stewart also appears in numerous documentaries about others (John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, etc.)
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I see your point, CS, but I don't think that Webb/Lydecker's obsession with Laura was sexual in any way. Remember, in his mind, he created her and made her what she became: a successful, stylish, confident career woman. In this sense, Webb/Lydecker had the same function as Pygmalion (or Henry Higgins, if you like). His "obsession" stems from the fact that she is, in a sense, his creation.
I think this is brought out rather well by Webb's line near the film's end when Laura chooses Mark MacPherson over him: "I hope you'll never regret what promises to be a disgustingly earthy relationship!"
I think that says it all about Webb/Lydecker's attitude towards sex.
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The picture was a Columbia release. It played on TNT years ago.
Recently (in the past year), it's been on Encore Westerns.
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Yes, Mike, he did.
I've read interviews with him in which he said so. He also enjoyed going to various fan shows, meeting and chatting with fans, signing autographs, etc.
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Yes, probably so.
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A case could probably be made that Stewart is "spoofing" his Mann character in THE CHEYENNE SOCIAL CLUB, but then, since the whole movie is a spoof, it's not too hard for him to do!
The others you name are more by way of being variations on a theme. FIRECREEK has easygoing, bumbling, almost timid Jimmy in a role that Hank Fonda could have played if he weren't playing the heavy! BANDOLERO! and, to a lesser degree, HOW THE WEST WAS WON both have loveable rogue Jimmy. All worth seeing, all types of parts Jimmy's done before, but not among my favorite Stewart roles.
SHENANDOAH is a different matter altogether. It's another hard-bitten part for Stewart as he plays a man who insists on staying out of the Civil War because it's not "his" war. The main plot has to do with Stewart's quest to free his youngest son who's been taken prisoner by some Union soldiers. Unfortunately, I found the final scenes unrealistic as far as Stewart's reaction to a real bummer of a plot development were concerned. I've never felt that his character would respond in the manner he did. I can't really say more without giving away too much, but most of the way, SHENANDOAH is good and Stewart is in fine Mannish form - just that last sequence didn't ring true for me.
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Hey, Bronxie.
Just caught up with this thread and the news about your mother. I join with everyone in wishing her a speedy and complete recovery (and yes, I'll take a blanket!)
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Yeah, love his bit(s) with his glass eye!
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Well, thank you for those kind words, Bronxie. It's nice to be missed.
Agree about Hank in Yours, Mine and Ours, although, actually, I found Lucy's character here to be much less scatterbrained (and therefore, much more likeable) than her Lucy Ricardo.
Her drunk scene was an absolute delight! And then Hank: "The Board of Inquiry is now in session!"
And actually, not only Jimmy, but all the cast in FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX end up looking somewhat grizzled by film's end, however, as I recall, Jim kind of starts out that way, too! And you're right: his character isn't all that removed from his character in his Mann westerns. He's a flawed individual trying to do the best he can under (in this case) extremely difficult conditions.
Because he's flawed, he makes us actually wonder if he'll be able to see the situation through, but because it's Jimmy Stewart, we shake our heads and say "Oh, of course he will (what was I thinking?)," thus creating that tension between what Stewart conveys to us as an actor (the "flawed" part) and what we expect from a character played by him at this point in his career.
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Hi Bronxie!
If I may chime in, I agree with CS that FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is good latter-day tormented (to a degree) Stewart.
The Fonda-Ball film from 1968 you are referring to is YOURS, MINE AND OURS.
It's true that Hank keeps himself reigned in here, as he seems to do in all his comedies, but he does have a way with wry, dry humor that comes through, and the film is very enjoyable.
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That would be A Gunfight, from 1971.
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You're quite welcome. Glad I could help.
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Mitchum & Kerr also co-starred in Reunion At Fairborough, a 1985 TV movie about a WWII veteran who returns to England for a reunion and, while there, meets an old flame and rekindles a romance with her.
Could this be it?
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Cecil Kellaway.
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A similarly-themed film which may interest you is the 1969 TV-Movie WAKE ME WHEN THE WAR IS OVER, starring Ken Berry as a bumbling officer who accidentally falls out of a plane and is taken "captive" by German Baroness Eva Gabor, who takes a fancy to him and, consequently, doesn't tell him that the war has ended. Five years later, he leaves her estate for the first time and determines to do what he can to "defeat" the Germans.
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You're quite welcome.
And, welcome to the boards.
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This sounds like one of the versions of BACK STREET. There were three:
1932 starring Irene Dunne
1941 starring Margaret Sullavan
1961 starring Susan Hayward.
The 1961 version was in color, so if you're sure about it being in b/w, it was probably one of the earlier versions you saw.
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It could be The Last of the Secret Agents? from 1966, starring Marty Allen & Steve Rossi.
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And the ever-popular musical BUNNY GIRL, together with its sequel BUNNY LADY..
The First Film That Comes to Mind...
in Games and Trivia
Posted
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, because of Fred Derry's (Dana Andrews) pre-war occupation as a soda jerk.
next word: Test tube.