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mrroberts

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Posts posted by mrroberts

  1. Like most Americans, David McCallum first came to my attention as the costar to Robert Vaughn in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I was a big fan of the show and "Illya". When The Great Escape first aired on network tv (guessing around 1966 or 67) my father and brother told me to watch, I was around 10 years old. So I watched with great interest, of course as far as I was concerned, "Illya" was the star of the movie. You can imagine how I felt when he got killed in the middle of the picture. Watch next Saturday night 9:45 pm est for the movie *Hell Drivers* . British film from 1958 with a rather interesting cast loaded with future stars, David McCallum among them.

  2. I consider *Rebecca* one of my favorite Hitchcock films so I guess sometime I should read the novel. Interesting that in the Cavett interview Hitch said he generally only read non fiction. I'm the same, history and bios are what I enjoy. I know I've read that one of the big issues between Hitchcock and Selznick was that Selznick wanted to stay faithful to the source novel while Hitch wanted to change storylines and make the film more of his own work. Selznick was the boss so he usually won out, especially with casting decisions. In both *Rebecca* and *Suspicion* the male lead , who committed murders in their novels, had to be made more "friendly" to satisfy the code. Both Olivier and Grant played dark characters and made the audience suspicious but in the end they were revealed to be okay guys and lived happily ever after with Joan (lucky gal).

  3. Fred, I have been comparing the death of Rebecca to the death of Claggart, the Robert Ryan character in *Billy Budd* . Both people died in the same way, they were physically pushed , certainly not with an intention of causing serious harm. Then they fell and by shear bad luck hit their heads on a hard object. In Billy Budd none of the officers believed Budd was guilty of murder but the Captain felt they had no choice because of the unforgiveable act of a sailor physically handling an officer. Budd had to be made example of even under the circumstances. In the case of Rebecca, if we are to interpret the death as a case of murder wouldn't the code have mandated Max getting punished at the end of the movie? I doubt they would have let that slip by. And if a murder trial had been held, the prosecution would have a tough time proving Max committed a crime. Maybe involuntary manslaughter only if Max would in some way incriminate himself.

     

    Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 22, 2013 2:00 AM

  4. About The Flintstones, reading the wiki entry (and also reading about The Jetsons) all of the shows were done in color but the first two seasons were first broadcast in black and white because many tv stations couldn't broadcast in color. Once the shows were rerun in syndication they were always shown in color. Hanna Barbera did the Flintstones and earlier did Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, etc and all were in color.

     

    Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 22, 2013 12:49 AM

  5. Fred, Max de Winter didn't kill his wife Rebecca. It was really an accident. When she fell she struck her head on the block and tackle on the floor. But it still put Max on the spot, would anyone believe his explanation? He then panicked and took her body out to the boat , sailed out a distance and then scuttled the boat. Anyway to the original issue, the young woman knew of social skills but she only knew to take orders not give them. She had to develop the confidence in herself to think and be assertive. The love she had for her new husband Max and the need for her to support him when his very life was on the line drew her out. Referring to another thread, the first half of the film I want to "bundle her up and care for her" but by the second half of the film she clearly doesn't need me so I end up out on the street alone as usual.

  6. Tomorrow night has Hitchcock's *The 39 Steps* which doesn't seem to get much air time. And next Friday morning has 2 Joel McCrea westerns *Colorado Territory* and *Wichita* . I have vague memories of both of those, but I know that they're good.

     

    Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 21, 2013 7:15 PM

  7. One of my favorite actors, Richard Widmark, played creepy psychopathic guys in his first few films. His "Tommy Udo" character in *Kiss Of Death* was as repulsive as you could get. He had to lobby hard to get the studio to let him play a normal or heroic guy. In *Down To The Sea In Ships* he got that chance. That had to be a shock to audiences seeing Widmark playing an honorable trustworthy man who tutors a young boy in seamanship. Of course in later films Widmark would play a range of characters, some heroes and some dastardly villians

  8. "Osbourne" , that must be the Canadian spelling for Osborne. :) Anyway, I too like RO and Drew is okay for the entertainment value, although she doesn't add a lot of insight for me, or she just isn't very good at articulating (impressive word, eh) herself. Always nice to see a new member, please stick around and join in.

  9. Isn't that the way it usually works? Joe is a cad, then he sees the light and tries to reform (a reformed cad? Did George Sanders ever try that?) Anyway just as Joe gets reformed, "Bang", Joe gets it. By the way is Sunset Blvd anywhere near the Slauson Cutoff?

  10. Saturday night at 10pm est, *The Whole Town's Talking* starring my main man Eddie G. Its a rather interesting film with Robinson playing two polar opposite characters, one a very mild mannered somewhat comedic guy and the other a tough as nails thug. Its the classic "mistaken identity" story, directed by John Ford (not in the way most John Ford films are) and Jean Arthur plays a good supporting role. And a number of the familiar Warner Bros stock company are on hand.

  11. I remember reading that Robinson was a last minute addition to *The Violent Men* . Eddie seems out of place in a western, but on the surface he could be considered miscast in a lot of his films. Its a tribute to his acting strengths that he could pull off playing those roles so convincingly. Robinson probably was grateful for the work because of his situation (graylisted?) at the time. It was a major picture and he had worked with Glenn Ford and Barbara Stanwyck before. As Eddie often states in his book, he had to accept his fate (his age and the political witch hunting) and make the most of it. As for *Key Largo* I guess technically he is a supporting actor but right from the opening credits he is treated as an equal to Bogart and Lauren Bacall. And he acknowledges Bogart's insistence for that.

  12. Actually, to be a little more serious here, I think the first film character that comes to my mind is (what do I call her, she doesn't have a name in the film) is the gal who becomes the 2nd Mrs deWinter in *Rebecca* . She seems so shy, innocent, and helpless in the first half of the film and you wonder what kind of a marriage she got herself into with a moody guy named Max. Joan Fontaine would play a very similar character soon after in another Hitchcock film *Suspicion* and still later in *Jane Eyre* . But *Rebecca* is one of my favorite Hitchcock films so that's the one Joan character I'm sticking with here.

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