mrroberts

It appears that Powell was somewhat typecast as a villain in the silent films (guess that explains the mustache). I would have loved seeing Powell in *Shadow of a Doubt* but as an older man (than Joseph Cotten) it would have changed the relationship between the two "Charlies". I am glad William Powell never did a "Batman" show, but he could have played a great villain in a spy show like "Man From UNCLE". Here's a thought: William Powell should have been on an episode of "Get Smart". Don Adams based a lot of his character persona ( in his stand up act and tv skit characters) on William Powell.

This is really a tough one for me, because over time I have decided that William Powell is my favorite actor of all time. So logically I should believe that Mr Powell could have/should have played a number of parts after his last role as "Doc" in *Mister Roberts* . But because I hold him with such esteem I respect his decision to retire when he did, whether it was because of his health or his decision to go out on top. I have to believe that his retirement (totally from acting) may have inspired others like James Cagney and Cary Grant to do the same later on. I do wish that these guys would have been a little willing to make some kind of cameo appearances on the occasional movie or tv show. Just a few nights ago I saw a part of the Robert Wagner "It Takes A Thief" tv show. Fred Astaire appeared on some episodes as Wagner's father. William Powell would have been great in a similar role on a show. Another thought, somehow I see an old , but wise, William Powell as a player in a poker game . Matching wits and wise cracks with the other players; a long list of movie roles to go with there.

About Mark's "main man" , James Gleason. I liked him a lot better when he put on a few pounds and changed his name to Jackie --- -- About the noirs; *Woman On The Beach* is a winner, with Ryan and Bickford its a can't miss. I have yet to see *The Good Die Young* , with my "main man" , Richard Basehart, it has to be good.

If I ever send Finance a private message it will be listed "reversed charges"

Ok fellas, lets just settle down and see if everyone can stay with the original point of this, "Does anyone see a specific movie or tv role that Ronald Reagan might have been suited for if he had stayed in the acting profession". Lets keep it in the spirit of the previous questions about James Cagney, Cary Grant, and Lassie (although I never thought Lassie retired, she just kept adopting new families). The bigger question is "can there be an honest discussion about Ronald Reagan the actor, and only about the actor?". Edited by: mrroberts on Nov 24, 2012 10:38 PM

The Private Message function is rather poorly displayed, I can imaging many people don't know its there. One nice thing it does is archive all of your messages, inbox and sent. I guess we will never get back the archive function for all of the enteries that we have posted on these boards. I used to be able to click on my name at the top right and get all of the postings that I made for the past 30 days, or 90 days , or for all time past. I would love to be able to skim through some of that stuff, my memory ain't what it used to be.

As soon as I saw this topic title I knew it would be headed into a minefield. Perhaps the better title for this would have been "What if Ronald Reagan had continued his career as an actor and not entered a new line of work?" That said, and keeping all of the politics out of this, I would see Reagan playing a number of supporting actor roles, probably mostly on TV. His career was in decline since the early fifties, he was no longer a major draw with the public. Ronnie would have best been suited in authority roles like a police captain , doctor, or lawyer. I have a hard time seeing him in anything comic, but he could have played against type like others did in *Airplane* or some other spoof movie. That may have opened up new doors for him like it did for Lloyd Bridges or Robert Stack. But his chances of hitting on some major role would have been slim. He would have been lucky to get a supporting role on a series that would have made it big. Ronald Reagan never had anything close to the star power of a Cagney or Grant.

I believe some actors end up modifying their names because of legal matters or conflict with some other actor, like Michael J Fox adding the "J" to his name because there was another actor "Michael Fox". --- I often wonder about people who adopt a stage name and become known publically by that name and yet they may never legally change their name. So did "Cary Grant" actually legally change his name right away, or maybe years later, if ever? If , after many years of going by "Cary" , Mr Grant/Leach is walking down the street and someone calls out "Hey Archie" , does he react immediately or has he put "Archie" out of his mind? Some people still go by their original names in their personal lives , like "Lauren Bacall" being called "Betty" by friends.

Way to go TCM, another satisfied customer!! Hope you spend some time at this site, check the schedule regularly and join the message boards on occasion.

I don't think that even William Powell , Cary Grant, Jean Harlow, and Carole Lombard could salvage this movie (although it would be fascinating seeing these 4 together in the same film.

Misswonderly, I'll always go along with you on *Pickup On South Street* , although I think Widmark was at his very best in *Night And The City* . So I'll choose either one there. Then I will take *Out Of The Past* next, its has so many noir elements going and Jane Greer is so, so bad, maybe the best femme fatale of all. Then I'll take *DOA* , Edmond O Brien's is terriffic in this and a lot of great street location shots. Finally I guess you have to take the classic *Double Indemnity* . Its got Barbara , MacMurray is really great in this (just forget about his usual character persona, he plays the heel so well, like in Caine Mutiny and The Apartment). And finally *DI* has the immortal Edward G in one of his very best roles of all. Eddie did a lot of "noir" films including some great movies in the thirties that helped create the noir era in the post war (see Little Caesar, Five Star Final, Two Seconds, etc). Of course picking 4 films is a matter of personal taste, there are so many other "honorable mentions" to pick from, right?

I half agree with this thread. First off, the movie in question is really bad, I have watched parts of it on several occasions, but it is hard to take in a full dose. Major disappointment considering the star power in this one, I really like all of the leads but this film must be a low point in the careers of all involved. Maybe I should record the movie and just freeze frame on Natalie in a few scenes. This is a good film for the 3 am time slot (of course my 3 am is someone elses midnite, their misfortune). As for the second part of this thread, we go through this over and over again. Some films are going to get shown more frequently because of the budget constraint factor. If TCM were to broadcast each film only once over a period of time they might not be able to afford a 24/7 scheduling of movies. So if you get a deal on certain titles that allow you several broadcasts in a time period you take it. Is that really a problem here, does anyone watch every minute of everyday? I have to believe that everyone records some of the movies shown, so when a "turkey" like this one comes up, its a great time to watch that other flick you recorded last month. Or in my case, I'll pull out my DVD of "North By Northwest"

I 've always assumed that Bogart's wife, Mayo Methot, was just off camera and trying to shoot her husband, but she was a poor shot and kept hitting the wrong target. And that was the inspiration for the Peter Sellers' film "A Shot In The Dark" , his second Clouseau film.

Jacquie Lyn (about 4 years old) in the Laurel And Hardy classic *Pack Up Your Troubles* . She actually steals her scenes from the boys.

*Bell Book and Candle* combines Christmas and Halloween. And Kim Novak never looked better in that one.

TCM showing this film on Tuesday Nov 13th at 430 am est

How about Cary Grant in Hitchcock's final film, *Family Plot* ? He could have played the William Devane role, a villain no less. I could also see Cary being very funny as Felix in *The Odd Couple* , who would have been a good Oscar to play against him?

I don't see Cagney as being a good choice for the Vito Corleone part in *The Godfather* , but Edward G Robinson would have been the ultimate actor for that part (except for the fact that Eddie was a little too old by that time). As for Cagney, how about the Walter Matthau part in *The Sunshine Boys* (I'm thinking Cagney as in his Mister Roberts' Captain role) ? Cagney could have been great in the Art Carney part in *Harry And Tonto* . Cagney could have done well as a supporting actor in a number of films, but I am sure he would have avoided any kind of gangster type of roles. But once he "retired" , Mr Cagney obviously enjoyed his new lifestyle and had no interest in returning to movies (just like William Powell and Cary Grant did). Edited by: mrroberts on Nov 4, 2012 2:37 PM

Now that was a dirty trick

I remember "Colossus" from its initial release, its a very good film. (Look for William Schallert , Patty Duke's dad) Although "Colossus" is dated by its 60's technology (which might be considered state of the art when the film was made) the theme is timeless. Man can't face up to the pressures of dealing with the consequences of his ability to wage modern nuclear war. Think of earlier films like" Fail Safe" , "Dr Stranglove ", etc. So we empower a computer to do the dirty work for us, now we can sleep at night. Unfortunately the computer takes its mission to a higher level, the only way to protect man from himself is to control him, put him on a short leash. Its "big brother" to the extreme. So what does man do now, the machine is the ruler and man doesn't like that either. The 80's movie "War Games" is along the same storyline, we let a computer run the national defense system. But when a teen computer geek unintentionally hacks into the system he fools the system into believing that a "game" is reality. The computer is ready to wage all out thermonuclear war against the Soviets. The lesson is simple, if man is to survive long term he has to face up to his responsiblities. He must discipline himself to not be so destructive to himself, or the environment I might add.

Fox Movie Channel used to show its oldies on the early morning time slots, like at 6 am est (meaning 3 am west coast time). Lately they have moved ever more away from showing "oldies" but it appears that Fox is making stuff more available to TCM. So keep up your hopes, put it in suggest a movie at TCM, probably the best chance of seeing the film get some air time. They have shown *Up The River* (featuring Bogart and Spencer Tracy) in recent years, so TCM apparently can access these Fox films. Edited by: mrroberts on Oct 27, 2012 5:48 PM

The Night Gallery episode that Sepiatone is thinking about is one of the three stories in the pilot show (considered a TV movie). That show also has Joan Crawford in a rather good role as the wealthy blind woman who "buys" a few hours of sight only to have her sight time right at the moment of the great east coast blackout. Poor Joan has her eye sight, but everything in her apartment goes dark. By the time that the morning light comes up, her vision starts to go away again. And that Joan episode was also Steven Spielberg's first director's job.

Finance says that Richard Boone was WAY over top in the movie *Vicki* . I understand that a guy named Paladin would like a word or two with Finance out in the street.

I would like to add Barbara Steele in the Italian epic *Black Sunday* . And does anyone remember Jack Palance's performance as *Dracula* in an early 70's movie?

I should add this, my previous comment is not meant to disrespect any of the other acting "Powells" out there.