mrroberts

William Powell, Edward G Robinson, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, James Cagney

According to Mythoughts; "Richard Widmark, a guy so nice I picked him twice"

For me one of the most endearing things about many of the old Warner Brothers films are the many supporting actors who played in those movies. Watch *The Strawberry Blonde* or *Arsenic and Old Lace* for example to see a lot of great character actors who provide great comic performances. And watching some of The Thin Man movie marathon the other night makes me think of Sam Levene, who played Lt Abrams in two of the films. He played a similar character in *The Mad Miss Manton* with Barbara Stanwyck. There are many more of course. We can compile a long long list here.

Over the last 70+ years Social Security has built up a nice surplus fund, the money going out to today's retired is money that they put in over their lifetime. As long as the system is maintained with a little tweaking it should go on indefinitely. The people who manage the system have to be dedicated to preserving it by predicting future pay outs and adjusting accordingly. It is only proper that the future retirement age should be adjusted upward by a few years because people are enjoying a longer life span. What we have to watch out for is falling for the scammers who want to "fix" the system but are really intent on destroying it. Clearly the elderly are on average way better off then those of 70 years ago. That fact proves the system is good and should be maintained.

Did anyone call the Duke "Little John"? Or "little Johnny, sir"? -- Tony Curtis' real name was Bernie (Bernard) Edited by: mrroberts on Dec 23, 2011 2:08 PM

A related question here. People who were referred to by their real birth name rather than their "stage" name. I always think of Lauren Bacall and most all her friends and associates refer to her as Betty, her real first name. Did anyone keep calling Barbara Stanwyck "Ruby" ? Some people legally changed their names but old friends may have still called them by their birth name. VP 19 may know about this; did personal friends still call Carole Lombard by her real name "Jane"? Mom certainly did but what about husbands Powell or Gable?

It would seem that nicknames were used mostly by those who were close personal friends and on occasion they appear in the magazine columns and articles, if only to suggest that the writer was a "personal friend" too. I often read articles referring to "Bill" Powell but wonder if the man on the street used "Bill" in public conversation as in "Are you going to see the new Bill Powell movie tonight?" One guy who seems to have violated that rule is James "Jimmy" Stewart. The theatre marquis may say James but we all say Jimmy, right? Then there's Bob Hope, when do you ever hear anyone say Robert? But right from the start he was publicized as "Bob" . And I believe everyone called Hitchcock "Hitch", wonder what his wife called him? "Teddy Bear" ?

I think Van Johnson gave one of the best performances in *The Caine Mutiny* even though Bogart and Tom Tully got the Oscar nominations. And most of the commentaries focus on it being Bogart's last big movie role, Fred Mac's playing against type (as he did in *Double Indemnity* and *The Apartment* ) and Jose Ferrer's killer performance as the defense lawyer. If I recall correctly on the Essentials R O and Alec barely mentioned Van Johnson.

On the cartoon network the most beautiful redhead is definitely Jane Jetson (who was voiced by Penny Singleton , aka Blondie)

Actually Paulette Goddard would have been very good as "The Lady Eve", although I don't know if anyone could have outdone Barbara Stanwyck.

Burt Lancaster is one of my all time favorite actors and he did a very diverse group of films, so different people will have different opinions about their favorites or bests. For me I first think of Burt the action hero ( I love TCM's John Frankenheimer narrative bio on Burt) and my favorite Burt film is *The Train* which is a gripping WW2 drama that really showcases Burt's acting and physical skills as a stunt man. *Run Silent, Run Deep* is hands down the best submarine movie ever made and shows Burt and Clark Gable doing some of their best acting. Burt's early film work features some of the best film noirs ever made , *The Killers* , *Criss Cross* , *Sorry Wrong Number* etc. And Burt did some of the best swashbuckler films made (of course doing his own stunts). Edited by: mrroberts on Dec 18, 2011 4:00 PM Edited by: mrroberts on Dec 18, 2011 4:02 PM

You mean your health care insurance provider doesn't provide for potential injuries from seeing a major motion picture blockbuster? These insurance companies look for any excuse to reject a claim.

What about *Destry Rides Again* or *Buck Benny Rides Again* ?

I don't think I have ever seen a sadder movie. It is a film that should be seen by all, I just am not sure when its a suitable time. As you mentioned, as sad as the ending is it does offer the prospect of hope for the future, that the kids will have good lives and maybe be reunited at sometime in the future. There should have been a sequel made a few years later, maybe with the same cast of children (all grown up) and the quest of reuniting the family.

Give it about 25 years, if its still being talked about then it may be considered a classic and suitable for discussion here.

Looking at pictures of Charles Laughton, he wasn't a bad looking kid at 12 years old. But he quickly got rather pudgy and remained so, getting ever heavier in his later years. That probably contributed to his dying at only 63 years old.

In my humble opinion both Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor are way overrated as actresses , its more of a tabloid driven fame concerning their personal adventures. Actually I do think Judy Garland showed much more acting talent then she gets credit for, but her personal tragedies get most of the attention. Finally as for the great Kate, I am not a big fan of hers but I don't question her considerable talents as an actress.

To answer the original post here, I have yet to actually sit through and watch in entirety Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind.

About *Anatomy Of A Murder* , I have to disagree with Mr Dobbs (who I respect as one of the best posters on these boards). I like the film a lot, its one of my favorites and I believe is James Stewart's best film performance of all (and I like many, many of his films). Everyone in the film gives a great performance (like my gal Lee Remick) and Otto Preminger is at the top of his game telling a story of suspense. The on location filming gives a real feel to the story and I believe the courtroom scenes are very true to reality. None of the characters are heroes here, and there may or may not be a real villain, the ending lets the audience speculate about that.

I kind of wish Hitchcock had done the film, he would have brought it up to a higher level. Neverless I still think it was a good film.

*Delicious* starring Janet Gaynor was on Dec 14th. I saw part of this film sometime ago, never knew the name of it but when I started watching yesterday I realized what it was and had to watch the whole film. I have never known a lot about Janet Gaynor movies but found her very charming in this one, I can she why she was such a big star in her time. I put her right at the top of my "cute" list along with Priscilla Lane. I'll have to start looking at more Janet movies.

*Payment Deferred* 1932 , starring Charles Laughton, was on Dec 14th. First time I saw that one. I thought it was quite good, could be considered an early noir, or Hitchcock like, or both? Laughton was only 32 years old playing an older man with a grown daughter (Maureen O Sullivan), and the wife / mother (Dorothy Peterson) may have been the best player in this movie. Ray Milland in an early role too. Anyone else see this?

Stefanie Powers (The Girl From UNCLE, April Dancer) was one of my very first crushes and Stefanie still looks terrific today. And she's a natural redhead.

You mean the Edmund Gwenn that tried to push Joel McCrea out of the tower or the Edmund Gwenn who charmed little Natalie Wood at Christmas? Tonight Edmund Gwenn tries to persuade William Powell to finally get his baptism in *Life With Father*.

Now if someone involved with that DVD release were smart they would let TCM have access to some of that material to promote some sales.