mrroberts

A quick checking of Dan on IMDb shows that many of his films were at Universal (it figures, that dirty rat would do that to us . I guess that complicates the issue of film availability to TCM. Starting in the mid fifties he moved away from films and started doing a lot of tv work. I don't believe I ever saw episodes of "China Smith" , was the show itself any good? I'm sure he gave it his best effort. After that he did only guest shots on series, maybe he did that by choice, not wanting to make the time commitments involved with being a regular in a series. January 23, 2014 is a Thursday so hopefully that day is open for scheduling a Duryea day (no apparent relation to the Duryeas of automobile fame). The ideal films I'd like to see are *Winchester 73* , *Scarlet Street* , *Too Late For Tears* , and *The Burglar* ( a neat little noir that TCM had on recently). I also would like to see the Burt Lancaster film *Criss Cross* on again, Duryea has a nice supporting role in that one.

What we need now is a little Joel McCrea type of campaign for Dan Duryea to get a night of films. January 23rd is his birthday, maybe its not too late to get a mini tribute scheduled (TCM programmers are you listening, please?)

What we need is Burt (Wyatt Earp) Lancaster and Kirk (Doc Holliday) Douglas to come clean up the town. Seriously, I guess the only thing to do is just ignore the trolls, they'll get bored and move on. And encourage new posters to stay and make the distinction between the sane and the not sane. (In some cases the line between sane and not sane is a little blurry ) Edited by: mrroberts on Oct 7, 2013 1:55 AM

John Ford seems to have been especially combative during the filming of Mister Roberts. From my Fonda bio book, Ford wanted to show his dominance from day one. His challenges to both Fonda (over the script ) and Cagney (over what, who knows?). When William Powell demonstrated early difficulties in remembering some lines Ford made no effort to try to accommodate him. So Fonda spent extra time with Powell rehearsing lines , out of respect for a fellow actor. Ford had picked Jack Lemmon for the Pulver part and maybe that is why Ford was more civil to the young actor. The actors all got along very well with one another , photographs of them sitting together during breaks show that. From what I have read about James Cagney he could be a very amicable man to work with but he would not tolerate being disrespected by anyone and would make that very clear.

Doris Day was down right charming and funny in these movies and Brian Keith was a good male lead for her. But these films really went out of style in a hurry in the later sixties. This film had been on TCM recently and was discussed briefly on the boards . George Carlin makes his film debut here, of course his claim to fame isn't his film career. Both Jamie Farr and William Christopher of MASH fame are in this film. Also the stunning Elaine Devry is present and I never knew (until a few minutes ago) that she was married to Mickey Rooney. Of course who wasn't married to Mickey at one time or another?

I have a dvd of *Too Late For Tears* and its rather bad, the quality of the print that is. The movie itself is a gem and definitely worthy of some restoration help. It may be Lizabeth Scott's best film role, she's a femme fatale of the highest order (really nasty) and Dan Duryea is a prize fall guy, like Mitchum was so often in those noirs. This is great seeing all of this input on this thread and the Dan Duryea site is definitely worth checking out. Has he ever had a night (or a SUTS) on TCM?

Seems like we should be stating a Waco Johnny Dean fan club. One of the best things about movies is having these interesting characters even if they are only supporting role characters. Someone writes a screenplay and invents the characters but the real good actors take those characters and develop them into something special , like Dan Duryea does here..

It starts up with the obvious, I like a lot of "classic" movies and by checking out this site I can learn a lot more about the films and the actors. I can learn about other films that may interest me and then make the effort to check them out. Its a place to come where there are other people who have a similar high level of interest. Lets face it, if you mention the name "Dan Duryea" to most people in the general public they will not know who you are talking about. But say it here and you get instant response and knowledgeable people who can discuss the man and his films. I do often wonder why with a TCM audience of several million people and most do some time on the internet that we only have regular participation by a literal handful of people. I know there are some posters who set a low bar for discussions, but why does that scare off some new people from getting involved? I feel that there are a number of posters here who are worth interacting with, agree on things or disagree on things, as long as there's a level of respect going.

Waco Johnny Dean as played by Duryea is a really fascinating character. He's vicious, ruthless and very sly. When he's confronting Shelly Winters' husband Steve (a very weak, cowardly fellow) Dean has no problem pushing him around. Later on when he meets up with a real tough guy, Dutch Henry Brown, Dean meekly backs off and lets Dutch be the boss. If the story had gone on differently (no James Stewart intervening) and the bad guys pull off the robbery and make their getaway I believe that Waco Johnny Dean would have managed to double cross Dutch Henry , killing Dutch and taking all of the loot and the rifle and the girl. That's just the kind of guy Waco Johnny Dean was, and Dan Duryea plays the character so very well.

The more I think about this I guess the only time EGR did an actual bio film was as Dr Ehrlich. I have such a high opinion of Mr Robinson's work that I am just thinking he did several bios. Like we sometimes think that our heroes actually did walk on water . Oh well.

I know there's always an exception to every rule but it seems it takes a real life nice guy to play a great film bad guy. Dan Duryea fits the rule. Just like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Richard Widmark, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan, etc, etc. Maybe its just because they are good actors dedicated to their work or , I don't know. Is there an answer? Does this mean that real life bad people are only good at playing good guys?

Both James Cagney and Edward G Robinson did several films that were biographies, playing real life persons of note. Both actors did very well in those efforts. Unless I am forgetting a film, Humphrey Bogart never played such a role. I'm not sure if that says anything about an actors talent, if Bogart had had the chance maybe he would have done well, although I'm having trouble imagining who Bogart could have portrayed.

Welcome to the boards "dirtyape" , curious as to how you picked that name? As Misswonderly just said, your best bet is to check out the monthly schedule and make a few notes as to what to potentially watch. Hopefully you can record, some of the films you may find most attractive may be on at bad times (like 3:30 am on Thursday morning). With your 12 year old daughter , you have to be the judge as to what she will enjoy watching, or what you may consider appropriate for her. I'd like to think that most of the older films are "safe" because of the code standards that they had to meet, but they can still be very adult in the subject matter. *The Time Machine* was a fascinating sci fi type of film in its day and still plays very well today. And its nothing of concern for kid viewing in my opinion. *His Girl Friday* is a great 30's screwball comedy and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them ( *My Man Godfrey* is my personal favorite). And keep an eye out for any of the William Powell / Myrna Loy Thin Man films. Everyone should like those.

Please don't misunderstand me, maybe I was careless with my words. Dan Duryea was a busy guy right until the end of his life, He passed away about a year after the Winchester remake, and he did several other roles in that time. Hard to believe he was only 61 years old at his death, he had been in so many films for so long (like the Bogart wartime film "Sahara").

If during a 24 hour period, and figuring there are at least 12 films being shown, TCM manages to satisfy everyone with at least 3 or 4 films that they will like, I think they are doing a damn good job. Anyone that HAS to watch a dozen movies a day needs some help anyway. This is not directed at any one particular person, but if the shoe fits......

I have the most recent DVD release of *Mister Roberts* . Along with some interesting commentary from Jack Lemmon (I believe that was done shortly before his passing) the DVD has the Ed Sullivan show with Cagney, Fonda, and Lemmon doing scenes from the movie. Two bits, one with Pulver unintentionally meeting the Captain "How long have you been on board Pulver?" . And they do the VERY intense confrontation between Roberts and the Captain in his cabin when they almost come to blows.

*Libeled Lady* is on again in the Essentials time spot. The four stars all shine in this great screwball comedy. So sad though, Jean Harlow was gone soon after this

It is no contest when comparing this film to the James Stewart original which is a great western. Still when one looks at the cast in this "remake" it seems worth checking out. Unfortunately this film was Dan Duryea's swan song, he passed away soon after doing this. And he was a very good character actor, his work in the original film was one of his personal best.

On youtube under "warner brothers bloopers" from 1936 to 1947 , there are quite a few outtakes of our 3 stars.

One film that comes to mind immediately, it was on just the other night and I have never watched from start to finish, *Citizen Kane* . I know its the "greatest" film of all time but I still don't get it.

Robinson's cameo on the "Batman" tv show was like many other actors who made appearances on that show. Whenever Batman and Robin were scaling the side of a building (it was so obvious that the camera was on its side and they were walking, not climbing a vertical face) someone's head would pop out of a window and make some comment to Batman who would reply to the "average law abiding citizen". I clearly remember Eddie's cameo because it was on the famous "crossover" show when The Green Hornet and Kato visited Gotham City. This tv list doesn't have Eddie's appearance on Laugh In. He is dressed very distinguished looking and talks to "dumb" Goldie Hawn. I forget the exact words but she asks about his art work and he replies "I was framed , see!"

Bowie and that whole glam rock thing never did anything for me, sorry

"Carla" was really a sweetie, just ask "Diane"

Sepiatone, I vaguely remember an episode of "Law and Order SVU" when they had arrested a murderer who they all believed was mentally disturbed. But he was also wanted in another state (Mississippi I believe) and that state wanted to extradite him. If they got him back he most definitely would get the death sentence. So it came down to the states contesting with each other. Sort of like *I Was A Fugitive From A Chain Gang* story.

It is sad. A lot more people watch Monday night wrestling than TCM. And it wouldn't matter what TCM was showing. I guess I have to take comfort in being part of the intellectual minority. Edited by: mrroberts on Oct 2, 2013 3:25 PM