ChipHeartsMovies

There is a public-domain DVD available on Amazon with four episodes that includes the Lucille Ball, Lucy/Desi, and Kim Novak episodes --- $7.95.

I was just at a Christmas party when someone came in with the sad news. I was lucky enough to see Eartha on Broadway in *The Wild Party* and also at a nightclub appearance --- various friends recounted seeing her at concerts, events, premieres, etc. (I live in New York, Eartha lived in Connecticut and obviously was invited to everything). Truly one-of-a-kind, and she will be missed.

I Tivo-ed my way through all of the seasons --- this was really one of the best shows on television. Of course the celebrity mystery guests are great (impossibly young Jane Fonda, drunk Judy Garland, weird Carol Channing), but the real charm is in the panelists and host. Arlene Francis was one of the most charming people ever on TV, Dorothy Kilgallen was so sharp and funny, Bennet Cerf and John Charles Daly were so sophisticated. Imagine a time when intelligent, urbane people populated game shows! For God's sake, the publisher of Random House was a regular! The episodes after the deaths of Fred Allen and Dorothy Kilgallen are especially amazing. I think the entire Kilgallen one is on YouTube.

NBC has the exclusive rights to IAWL, which they manage to stretch to THREE HOURS with commercials. They usually show it on Christmas Eve. I was traveling last night and was stuck in a hotel in Atlanta on a stormy night and watched it -- those incessant ads really make you appreciate TCM (which, of course, the hotel didn't carry).

And FYI Joe Henry is Madonna's brother-in-law (married to M's sister Melanie), and has done a duet with M, as well as working with her on several of her solo tracks.

I've seen it and I think the phrase "Susan Lucci as Ebbie Scrooge" is all we need to say. Susan Lucci seems like a nice enough person, there's no need to attack her for something she no doubt regrets every year when the Oxygens/Lifetimes start showing this relentlessly. And regret it she should. Um, I mean, no comment.

What you're all discussing (Margaret O'Brien's Tootie behavior) is precisely one of the reasons this movie is so great. Real life kids LOVE imagining horrible things (like Tootie's "killing" the neighbor, or burying her dead dolls) --- it helps them take control of fear. Now, I love me some Shirley Temple, but would anyone honestly want to spend any real amount of time with a child like that? While she's tapdancing her way down the top of the dinner table, you can find me with Margaret in the garden burying the dead dolls. Not to say that most real kids have choreographed a cake walk with Judy Garland...... .

It's really beautifully done. It's nice that TCM included Brad Renfro (unlike the Oscar people last year). Go to YouTube and search for "TCM Remembers 2008."

Welcome, GatsbyGirl! Let me second the suggestion you try the TCM Challenge made by lzcutter. It is really fun making your own fantasy TCM schedule, trying to balance different types of films for different types of people, coming up with fun themes for a night's programming, etc. You end up doing research (easy, thanks to the internet) and finding out about all sorts of movies you never knew about. And it's especially fun to see what schedules other TCMers come up with --- I have definitely sought out movies other people put in their schedules that I wouldn't have otherwise known about. CK, also as Lynn notes, you shouldn't be too upset by missing *Inchon*. Sheesh, it's bad.

Even with her Oscar, an awful lot of people seem not to have cared whether the name was Hattie McDaniel or Hattie McDaniels.

Patty Mac in *The Bad Seed* is the best example of the demon/evil child --- she scares me more than the Exorcist/Rosemary's Baby/Omen kids. But the biggest brat? Jane Withers in *Bright Eyes*, no question. When I was a child (in the 70's, we had the earliest cable in the country in the Atlanta area so we got to see the old movies as kids), my little sister and I played games in which we actually took turns being Jane's character. Even today, we will say "Mama!" to each other to be BRATS.

I'm with CineMaven (and I usually am, she's a smart cookie) --- let's not bury RO yet.

First, can we all just agree that Vitaphony is a brilliant screen name for the TCM world? Well christened, my (new found) friend. Because my work gives me offbeat and variable hours, I don't think I have the annoyance factor others might have seeing movies like *Casablanca, Bringing Up Baby, Mildred Pierce*, et. al. in prime time repeatedly. For me, prime time is as likely to be 8 PM as it is 4 AM, but either way hopefully I'll come home to find a bizarre early 1930's Loretta Young movie set in Eastern Europe playing, hopefully something about a zoo; and luckily for me TCM tends to program those movies in the wee hours. Plus, I have all those "tired" movies like *Bringing Up Baby* on DVD. BUT --- the day I complain about *Casablanca* being on television...as opposed to *The Hills, Gossip Girl, American Idol*, or some sordid activity with Tila Tequila.......well, that day will never come.

My workload explodes in the holiday season, and I am not around these parts much in December, but just reading about Van Johnson's passing made me want to log on, however briefly, among fellow classic movie fans. My favorite Van Johnson movies: In the Good Old Summertime and Yours, Mine, and Ours. In the Good Old Summertime won't be a surprise to those who know me (and my fondness for Judy Garland). Yours, Mine, and Ours is a movie my mom & dad took my baby sister (who was two) and me (age five) to see in a drive-in theatre. It's one of my fondest memories from childhood, made especially tender this year due to a death in the family. RIP Van Johnson. Back to work --- see you guys next, most likely, in January --- for the next TCM Challenge, for sure!

Milk is really, REALLY good, and Sean Penn is a marvel.

Okay, fellas, just to let you know I had the honor of meeting Gloria Hendry this week. She is the Live and Let Die Bond Girl (the iconic African-American woman with the afro and machine gun). (I produce a charity auction and she was kind enough to donate something, so I went to pick it up). She looks better today than ever. Who knows about Honor Blackman, but Gloria...still beautiful, and still hot.

The TCM Programmer reads these boards, and let's hope he considers this idea. It would be great to see a Gloria Jean interview and a couple of her films. Regarding the other stars mentioned, I think Kathryn Grayson is not in the best health. When you watch *Kiss Me, Kate* realize she was born in 1922 and is still with us. Deanna Durbin --- no way will she do press, ever. Ann Blyth has a relationship with TCM (as any of us who have heard that endlessly-repeated interstitial about Joan Crawford know). She's definitely in good form, I can personally say -- she recently made a nice donation to a celebrity memorabilia annual AIDS auction I produce. The licensing of the movies from Universal CAN happen.

Goldie isn't just a terrific (Oscar-winning) actress, she's obviously also a very nice and very spiritual person. I recommend her autobiography *A Lotus Grows in the Mud*.

I'm with Film_Fatale about seeing classic films in real theatres being a whole different experience. Not saying you can't enjoy them on DVD, just that it is a different, and far richer, experience in a theatre. I'm very fortunate to live in NYC, where classic films are screened every single day, among various museums, art houses, midnight shows, etc. Just to toss out the most familiar films I've been lucky enough to see that I was startled by, *Sunset Boulevard* was _magical_ in the theatre --- when Gloria Swanson was "ready for her close-up" and advanced toward the camera, it was mesmerizing. *Meet Me in St. Louis* has been my favorite movie forever, but it wasn't until I saw it in the theatre that I could appreciate the intricate detail in the design in every scene --- from the wallpaper to the trim on the tablecloths. *The Wizard of Oz* on the big screen: Oz is INSANELY weird! And seeing Jean Harlow in that silver sheath dress in *Bombshell* on the big screen is startling ... on DVD she's sexy, sure, but on the big screen she explodes. (And she clearly isn't worried too much about undergarments). *A Midsummer Night's Dream* and *Shanghai Express* on TV are pretty. In the theatres they are shimmering like a hypnotic dream; you literally cannot tear your eyes off the screen. Most people who don't live in NYC and I suppose LA don't have this available so readily, and I am happy to be able to see TCM as much as you are. And thank God for TCM, that Joan Carroll movie I watched today hasn't been screened at Film Forum or MOMA lately. Just chiming in to say if you get a chance to see these movies in the theatre, even --- maybe especially --- favorites you've seen repeatedly on DVD, don't pass up the chance.

scsu1975, that is hysterical.

Although it's unrelated to *Where the Lilies Bloom*, you might like to check out *Nobody Knows*. It's a Japanese movie from a couple of years ago about a woman who abandons her children in Tokyo and how they try to make it alone, lying to their landlord, etc. It's based on a (horrifying) true story, and it is devastating. It was my favorite movie in 2004.

Wow, rayallan, amazing --- that one is really obscure!

Actually, skimpole, TCM does play *Midnight Cowboy*, just always at a later hour. And like everything else on TCM, it is not censored or cut in any way.

Hey there, GeorgieGirl --- (Sorry, couldn't resist). Welcome to the TCM world. Dark Angel is currently out of print (not being produced for sale commercially), but Amazon has some third party sellers of old copies. Since the holidays are coming, maybe you want to give your sister a DVD or tape! http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Angel-Fredric-March/dp/6303922252

Hayley Mills wasn't a star til the very late 50's/early 60's. Deanna Durbin maybe, but she never comes across as a tomboy to me. Perhaps Jane Withers or Virginia Weidler? Jane's movies are rarely shown anywhere, other than *Bright Eyes*, so check out her imdb page and see if a title rings a bell. Maybe Patty McCormack as well. Others who could convincingly play a tomboy during these years are Margaret O'Brien and Bonita Granville, but their films are often played and would likely have been picked up by someone by now. This also sounds like something that would happen in an Our Gang movie.