mrroberts
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Posts posted by mrroberts
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You make a good point about *Casablanca* . How many people watch the movie today and appreciate the emotions of the film makers and the public audiences of the time (1942/1943). Today it just looks like an entertaining movie, but back then ...
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Just read the update on Robert Osborne being out for awhile. My sincere best wishes to him, hope his time away goes well and he is back soon. The substitutes should be interesting but I look forward to Bob returning in some capacity, he is a very special guy.
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Come on Finance, everything about *Niagara* is in Canada. The opening scene has Jean Peters (who I adore here) and her creepy husband coming over the Rainbow Bridge thru customs. You can only really see the Falls from the Canadian side and their fictional lodge has a great upclose view of same. The very polite cop is obviously a Canadian, no Robert Ryan/ Dana Andrews tough guy here. You don't see any trash littering the landscape, obviously we are not in the states. And as for Marilyn, yeah she's eye candy for a little while, but her best scene is when her husband meets her in the tower and gives her payback. I'll take Polly (Jean Peters) in a minute, after I dispose of her nitwit husband.
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I really enjoy the Charles Laughton interview, he was such a terrific talent, and very good at giving his insight into things.
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I usually find it hard to come up with personal lists, ranking say 1 to 10, favorite movie, actor, song, ball player, whatever. Once I get to a certain level of favorite, its hard to distinguish one over another. But when it comes to movies, *Mister Roberts* is my no. 1 , and about 5 or 6 films tie for second. About actors, its even harder for me. I find it hard to compare them because of different eras, or styles, or physical characteristics, etc. How do I pick between Burt Lancaster and Edward G Robinson for example? Cary Grant and Richard Widmark? Stan and Ollie vs James Cagney? Somehow over time I just find that William Powell always entertains me no matter what, but he has to be playing a character that is within his range; Powell would have been no good playing Eddie G types , etc.
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Have you seen my Noel Francis pics on the CFU? Some of the better ones are stills from *Night Court*. Several months ago I was able to find a source for a decent copy of the film. Still glad TCM is showing it. Its an MGM movie directed by Woody Van Dyke no less. Very good pre code film, Walter Huston is nothing like Jerry Cohan in *Yankee Doodle Dandy* , is he?
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Howard Cosell, now there's a "classic" I'd just as soon forget.
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Just trying for a bit of humor. Windex. Maybe someone's screen was dirty, or a camera lens, or whatever, you know. --- These topics about picture quality on TCM come up all of the time. I sure don't know the answers. I get the impression that TCM requests a copy from the "owner" and they get what they get. We would hope they would always get the most pristine copy available, if they don't they should push back on the source. Maybe they assume they got a good copy and just throw it on the air without proofing it ahead of time. So TCM and the viewers get burned this time. Hopefully someone at TCM takes note and makes sure there is no repeat showing of that copy.
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Fred, you are forgetting the best part of *Night Court*. Noel Francis is a major player in this film, and she is a great "bad" girl.
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On one of my DVDs with commentary, I can't remember which movie but it was an early talkie, the commentator talks about dolly shots and the difficulties they had with not picking up the sounds from moving the camera back and forth. Apparently the problem of noise was solved quickly, so the dolly shots were used with no problems. Thank you Fred, for the insights.
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For what its worth guys, I like both *Mad, Mad World* and *Larry of Arabia* . But I never, never spend my money at walmart.
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Someone needs to get out the Windex.
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Technically speaking the zoom shots were OK, but why zoom in on the goofy guys when there are pretty girls around? Who was directing this movie, what was he thinking? Kidding aside, all of the things we take for granted, they had to start somewhere, right?
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Joel McCrea, Joel McCrea, did a movie with Fay Wray --- ( there's nothing controversial about Fay Wray, is there? )
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One final thing about *Key Largo*, the obvious comparisons between it and *The Petrified Forest* . And in *Key Largo* (a variation of the earlier Petrified Forest), Bogie gets to play the good guy Lesile Howard role while Eddie G plays the bad guy Bogart role. In *The Petrified Forest* Eddie G probably would have been the villain if not for Lesile Howard's insistence that Bogart get the part. And the rest as they say, is history. Bogart goes Hollywood.
Edited by: mrroberts on Jul 10, 2011 8:05 PM
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misswonderly says "At least Raymond Burr wasn't a whiner". What else do you call a guy who grows whine?
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would you consider the Hitchcock film *I Confess* (filmed in Quebec) a noir? I would. Also *Niagara* , which shows a noir can be in color.
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Olivia de Havilland was in *The Strawberry Blonde* with James Cagney
Edited by: mrroberts on Jul 10, 2011 7:41 PM
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*Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid*
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After very careful, thoughtful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that William Powell is my all time favorite actor. I don't necessarily love every film he is in but I just like his acting (it does show that he is from the stage and they say early sound pictures were done very much like filmed stage performances). Even his final film performance in *Mister Roberts* shows elements of that. But I love his wit, the casual way he carries himself, he works with his co-actors well (not like some big name stars I could mention). I believe he was very highly regarded by his peers. He had a long, varied, successful career and ended on a high note. I have to try to watch more of his early films especially the silent ones, whenever thats possible.
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Everything I read suggests Joel McCrea underestimated himself as an actor, or he was just being very modest. Do you think he was often denied the opportunities to show his talent and range, or did he just think certain roles were beyond his abilities? Gary Cooper is supposed to have turned down a lot of role offers because he was overly image conscious. I don't think that was McCrea's concern, he was just unwilling to test his own abilities. I agree, I think he was capable of much more, he should have tried to do more. Errol Flynn is another guy who I think was a very talented actor, and he did try to do different things. Of course there is always the matter of what the public wants to see and will accept from an actor.
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What do you call a heavy insulated shoe that you wear in the winter weather?
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To be serious for just a moment, I agree that Joel McCrea would be an excellent choice for SOTM . He did plenty of movies that would easily fill out a month long tribute, even if he wasn't the star he ably supported other name stars. Joel McCrea always brings a presence to his roles, I think he shows a lot more character then many other tall, handsome leading man types (could name a few of them but don't want to start any trouble here). He stars in *Foreign Correspondent* (one of my fav Hitch flix) and he did a bunch of movies with Barbara Stanwyck (I can watch anything with her). --- Misswonderly, sorry about the Cassius Clay suggestion, maybe I should have mentioned Henry Clay (but what can you do with that?).
Edited by: mrroberts on Jul 10, 2011 1:28 AM
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Misswonderly, my gift to you. Turhan Bey (the actor) might work in a rhyme, you'll have to figure one out. Then there's Cassius Clay, or Ben Gay (the ointment), etc, lots of possibilities. How bad do you want this to happen , we're testing you.
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