ChipHeartsMovies

Heeheehee, Fedya... Others would boast of sharing a birthday with Boy George (George O'Dowd) & Steffi Graf, and would LOVE to declare sharing one with Donald Trump, Burl Ives, and Dorothy McGuire, as you rightfully did. But Poodles Hanneford? Best Celebrity Birthday Pal Name EVER. Please, everyone...let's research Poodles Hanneford's career. I have no idea who she (I assume Poodles is a she) is, but I wanna know ALL about her now, thanks to Fedya. Poodles. Hanneford. Probably the best screen name ever. Let's ALL find out just who Poodles Hanneford is/was!!!

I am just overwhelmed with work right now, and I apologize for not sounding in on the terrif schedules you guys have done. That said.... FilmLover... The Birthday Day you lined up for 2/6 is brilliant! Who knew that Patrick Macnee, Mamie van Doren, Rip Torn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ronald Reagan, Babe Ruth, and Ramon Novarro all shared the same b'day? And they shared it with you? GENIUS. Your birthday-sharers leave mine in the dust. Sure, I share a b'day with legends Bernardo Bertolucci and Mercedes McCambridge...but also Pat Nixon, Henny Youngman, Jerry Lewis, Erik Estrada, and...uh...Flavor Flav. What a fun approach! Well done!

Lynn (lzcutter) and I are obviously into making this idea a reality. Lynn's LA, I'm NYC, and I know we're both open to hearing about anything. What ideas would you guys like to see in a fantasy TCM Conference Weekend?

lzcutter, you are clearly the LA side to my NYC thoughts on this... Let's discuss how to promote this through.

I LOVE this idea. I actually produce special events for a living, and my mind is just racing. My immediate thoughts: Although I understand the frustration people who aren't in NYC or LA feel when so many things happen in NYC/LA, it makes sense to do this in one of these two cities for the simple reason that a number of classic stars and directors live in/near these cities, and thus would be more likely to participate in some way. Down the line, easier to locate to other cities (like the afore-mentioned Atlanta, my birthplace). Unfortunately, these cities (particularly NYC) are expensive to visit, so a centralized hotel or two would need to be chosen that would offer a deep discount. To further make it affordable, it would be wise to schedule it when hotel occupancy is lowest; in NYC, that would be January-early April. I have always been most able to get great bulk rates in NYC during that period. I'm not sure when LA hotels are least busy. I'd avoid the high-awards season (Golden Globes through Oscars), since celebrities, including classic stars, are often locked up with those events and their ancillary activities. The scale of such a gathering, at least in the first year or so, would be more along the lines of Fan Festivals, Chiller conventions, etc. --- certainly you wouldn't need to look at a city's official convention center. You'd want to locate the host hotel(s) near the official cinema, hopefully walking distance. The most cost-effective way to set this up would be to arrange an official TCM Conference cinema to screen classics that weekend; conference attendees could have first crack at the the tickets, but the rest would be up for sale to the general public after whatever date. In NYC, theatres likely to do this might include Film Forum, the Landmark, or Angelika; I don't know LA as well, but certainly the Silent Movie Theatre comes to mind. The Museum of Moving Image (or whatever they're calling it these days) in NYC also springs to mind, but they're located in Queens, and most all visitors would want to be in Manhattan. That's another reason it would probably need to be NYC or LA --- the excess tickets could be available to a general audience, and you have bigger pools of potential ticket buyers in bigger cities. Obviously, Chicago or San Francisco, for instance, offer big pools as well. The conference should begin Friday with a get acquainted cocktail party, say 6-8; this way travelers arriving later don't miss anything too major. I'd end Sunday night, with perhaps a low-key farewell breakfast Monday morning for those who stayed over Sunday. This way travelers could still get the major activities in Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and potentially fly out Sunday night --- again, if you are in NYC or LA, hotels can be pricey, and the difference between two and three nights could be a deciding factor for some. I'd begin screenings of films in the host cinema Friday night at 8 or 9 PM, but wouldn't program anything especially special or rare until Saturday and Sunday, again to insure that travelers all arrive for the best events. In the theatre, I'd screen full schedules, movies back-to-back from 8 or 9 PM-midnight start times Friday, 10 AM-midnight start times Saturday, and Noon-8 PM start times Sunday. The movies chosen should include: -very popular classics that benefit immensely from seeing them on a big screen. We're lucky here in NYC to be able to see a lot of classic movies screened, and some that were REALLY enhanced by screenings (for me) included The Wizard of Oz (obvious reasons), GWTW (ditto), Sunset Boulevard (when Gloria Swanson is "ready for her close-up" it's a whole different thing on the big screen), Bombshell and other Harlow movies from her sexy years (she just comes across as sexier, and you can SEE that she wasn't wearing underwear when she's on the big screen), and many of the early-30's b/w movies --- A Midsummer Night's Dream, I remember in particular, seemed to shimmer magically on the big screen. Not just Harlow, but a lot of the old-school sex symbols are exponentially sexier on the big screen --- I had seen Josephine Baker on video, for instance, but seeing her on the big screen blew me away. -rarities and restored films -films that the conference can convince stars, directors, etc., to introduce. Lauren Bacall welcomes you to a screening of "To Have and Have Not," anyone? In addition to the screenings, I'd like to see occasional panel discussions on various aspects of classic films. The film studies departments of the city's universities could be very helpful here, and the students of their classes would also benefit from all of these activities. I'd schedule a group social activity in each day in which TCMers could get to know each other, each of which could hopefully be hosted by someone like Robert O, Ben M, etc.: -Friday, the cocktail hour --- 6-8 PM --- before screenings begin -Saturday, afternoon tea --- 4-6 PM --- -Sunday, brunch --- 9:30-11:30 AM --- before screenings begin Sunday, farewell coffee & cocktails --- say, 10 PM-midnight in the host hotel's lounge, a nice wind-down to the weekend. These would all be cost-effective --- a cocktail hour, a tea, and an early brunch (for NYC anyway, 9:30-11:30 is EARLY --- my favorite brunch spot doesn't even SERVE until 11:30) are relatively cheap I'm being so detailed to show you guys that it ISN'T a pie-in-the-sky dream. It's actually workable, and could be put together at a price that many fans could afford. It would take 7 months to a year to put together right --- that would mean everything from committing celebrities to appear to arranging sponsor hotels, cinemas, airlines, and even official vodkas for the cocktail parties. Maybe I'll contact TCM with a real proposal. No matter what, I hope someone from TCM is reading this and gives it a thought.

Hehe, I know I seem to get "St. Louis" into every Challenge. Hey, I said it's my favorite movie long ago, and the theme this time was about Our Favorites... I promise to leave "Meet Me in St. Louis" out of the next Challenge (as long as the Challenge doesn't demand Movies Set in St. Louis or something of that ilk). I'll try and bone up on John Wayne movies before the next one, to counterbalance the Judy-ism of this entry. "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "Stagecoach," "True Grit" ... these are great movies, I can do it! As long as I don't have to suffer through those Green Berets...

1933 gets my vote. Dinner at Eight, Flying Down to Rio, Duck Soup, Bombshell, Queen Christina, Counsellor-at-Law, and 42nd Street lead the pack. Then you add: Cavalcade, Christopher Strong, Design for Living, Ekstase (the original European release of the Hedy Lamarr classic), Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Hold Your Man, I Cover the Waterfront, Lady for a Day, Little Women, Our Betters, Peg o' My Heart, Penthouse, State Fair, The Story of Temple Drake, A Study in Scarlet, Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse, This Day and Age, Three Cornered Moon, Today We Live, The Vampire Bat, When Ladies Meet, and White Woman. You can throw in lots of enjoyable, if slightly lesser, movies like Bed of Roses, Dancing Lady, Mary Stevens, M.D., Mystery of the Wax Museum, Oliver Twist, Out All Night, The Prizefighter and the Lady, Roman Scandals, Son of Kong, and Stage Mother. Added fun bonus: 1933 also pitches you two Bette Davis flicks that ... let's just say ... represent the period before Hollywood knew what to do with Bette Davis: Ex-Lady and Parachute Jumper. Parachute Jumper is the vintage "Jane Hudson" movie that you see in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane in which she has the horrific Southern accent --- she says something like "So I have the job?" Her character's name in this one is Alabama. Sometimes referred to as Alabam.

First choice: The Wizard of Oz, and I'm not going to be stupid enough to go back to old sepia-tone Kansas. Can you really dye my eyes to match my gown? Uh-huh! Jolly good town! Second choice: Miracle on 34th Street (Admittedly, there are a couple of films geared toward a more...adult...audience I wouldn't mind permanently inhabiting even more, but those aren't really appropriate for this discussion, hehe).

CHIP HEARTS MOVIES - PROGRAM NOTES ?HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STAR OF THE MONTH MICKEY ROONEY ?BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO ARTHUR PENN AND JAYNE MEADOWS ?HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION ?100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MODEL T VAUDEVILLE ON FILM SEPTEMBER 21-28, 2008 The week begins with two musicals with an Irish brogue, "Little Nellie Kelly" with Judy Garland and the rarely seen "Finian's Rainbow" with Fred Astaire (directed by Francis Ford Coppola), followed by two early-70's films starring Jodie Foster and Johnny Whittaker, "Tom Sawyer" and "Napoleon and Samantha." That's capped by "Lassie, Come Home." One dog that never comes home is little Sheba. I recently saw the Broadway revival of "Come Back, Little Sheba," and although S. Epatha Merkerson was excellent in the lead role, it was impossible to forget Shirley Booth's Oscar-winning turn as Lola. That inspired me to program Shirley's landmark film, as well as her turn in "The Matchmaker." The rest of the day is devoted to Fanny Brice, who was primarily a stage star but made a few films. We're catching two of her MGM appearances, in "Everybody Sing" and "Ziegfeld Follies," bookending Barbra Streisand's portrayal of her in "Funny Girl." Silent Sunday Nights follows with a pair of Hitchcock films. My TCM Import is "Le Miroir a Deux Faces," which was loosely remade by Streisand as "The Mirror has Two Faces" 40 years later. The film has a plastic surgery plot device; I follow it with "Stolen Face," the Lizabeth Scott noir that also has plastic surgery as an integral plot point. After that: "The Enchanted Cottage," where love serves as a kind of magical cosmetic aid to Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire. Monday: This is the day I programmed my personal favorites; I spent the daytime hours allotting one film each to my favorite film series (Torchy Blane), comedic actor (Cary Grant), comedic actress (Jean Harlow), dramatic actor (Montgomery Clift), director (Billy Wilder), and dramatic actress (Bette Davis). Primetime I devoted to my favorite genre and star with my fave pair of Judy Garland musicals, "The Wizard of Oz" and "Meet Me in St. Louis." Filling out the night: three movies that I can literally watch endlessly and still be entertained: "Bright Eyes" with (my favorite child star) Shirley Temple and the deliciously evil Jane Withers, "Bombshell" with Harlow, and "The Band Wagon." I chose Mickey Rooney as my Star of the Month --- and it's his birthday to boot --- and I'm celebrating with over 24 hours of films from his extremely diverse career. (Regular readers of the Message Boards know that I'm a little obsessed with giving Mickey credit for his unparalleled longevity as a star while he's still with us). The day includes a variety of films from across his career, from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" through Andy Hardy to a war film to his Disney days. Wednesday's daytime programming is also devoted to other classic stars who are still alive: Shirley Jones, Jane Fonda, Joan Fontaine, Celeste Holm, Lauren Bacall, Lizabeth Scott, and Kirk Douglas. Those of you who participated in the last Challenge know that I produce an annual celebrity memorabilia auction benefiting an AIDS charity, and all of these particular stars donated signed items for last December's auction --- so I'm using today's programming to thank them! Wednesday night, I'm returning to the "My Favorites" theme by selecting my favorite films in each of the four genres I like LEAST. I'm definitely not a War Movies fan, but who wouldn't love "The Bridge on the River Kwai?" (It was a tough choice between that and "Stalag 17"). I don't care for Westerns, but I love "Destry Rides Again" (as well as "Stagecoach" and "Cat Ballou"). Epics tend to bore me, but I am captivated by "Gandhi," and Biopics tend to annoy me because they are so inaccurate, although the music and the chemistry between James Stewart and June Allyson make "The Glenn Miller Story" a treat. In "The Glenn Miller Story" you get a brief appearance by singer Frances Langford, which should whet your appetite for "Girl Rush" and "Radio Stars on Parade," two RKO flicks she made with vaudeville comics Clancy and Brown. The rest of the morning is devoted to films starring other vaudeville stars: "Strike Me Pink" with Eddie Cantor and Parkyakarkus (plus Ethel Merman), "Sarong Girl" with Tim and Irene Ryan, and "Fireman, Save My Child" with Joe E. Brown. I'm particularly eager to see "Sarong Girl," which I've never caught --- Irene Ryan (who became famous later in life as Granny on "The Beverly Hillbillies") is supposed to be hysterical. After "Fireman, Save My Child" comes Joe E. Brown's most famous film, "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon. Controversy! The next few hours are spent watching films that were rated Condemned by the Legion of Decency. Sure, you knew "The Moon is Blue," "Baby Doll," and "The Outlaw" were chastised, but what exactly were they worried about with "Two-Faced Woman?" And who knew they were even still around to Condemn "Grease?" The school week is ending, and we're spending Friday daytime with films starring and directed by alumni of Hollywood High School, including Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ann Miller, Carol Burnett, John Huston, James Garner, Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Lon Chaney Jr., and Sharon Tate. (Elsewhere in the week you get other Hollywood High alums Nanette Fabray, Mickey Rooney, and Chuck Jones, and I just couldn't fit Carole Lombard, Jason Robards, Alexis Smith, Alan Ladd, Cher, Tuesday Weld, and the other famous Hollywood High-schoolers. What a school!). Included in the day are two 1982 musicals, "Annie" and "Victor/Victoria," as well as two late-60's comedy/horror films, "Spider Baby" and "The Fearless Vampire Killers." Friday, September 26 is George Gershwin's birthday, so enjoy "An American in Paris" and "Funny Face," two films featuring his music, followed by the biopic "Rhapsody in Blue." TCM Underground is one of my favorite aspects of the schedule, because I love offbeat and cult-y movies. Tonight I've programmed three, starting with the delirious "Cobra Woman" starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, and Sabu. It has it all: good and evil twins (the evil one is an island queen), virgin sacrifices, snake handling, demented dance numbers, revealing tropical costumes, a chimp ... and Sabu. It's followed by two forgotten, rotten horror films starring film legends: "Flesh Feast," starring Veronica Lake as a doctor who may be reanimating Hitler, and "The Manipulator" (aka "B.J. Lang Presents"), with Mickey Rooney as a malevolent Hollywood makeup man in a movie that is almost indescribably horrible, in a laugh-til-you-cry way. (For a description of the plot, see http://moviesthatmakeyousayhuh.blogspot.com/2008/01/manipulator.html). After all that trash, I programmed a great horror film, "The Bride of Frankenstein." Saturday morning kicks off with a rash of WWII Warner Brothers cartoons starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the Warner Brothers gang, followed by the silly meetings Abbott and Costello arranged with the Mummy and the Invisible Man. We're next celebrating two birthdays: actress Jayne Meadows, who appears in small roles in "Song of the Thin Man" and "Lady in the Lake." Meadows, of course, was best known for her TV work and as the wife of Steve Allen. Next up, director Arthur Penn's birthday is noted, with screenings of "The Miracle Worker," "Little Big Man," and the TCM Premiere of The Essential "Bonnie and Clyde." Today also marks the 100th Anniversary of the very first Model T Ford, and we're kicking off the night with two films that feature climactic scenes in cars, "Butterfield 8" and "The Bad and the Beautiful." I was out of Premieres, or you would have seen "Mahogany" here too. The week wraps up with three films set in the world of auto racing, including "Spinout" and "Speedway" with Elvis Presley and "High Speed," which has a cast including Mickey Rooney back when he was still billed as Mickey McGuire. BY DECADE: 1920's - 2 1930's -18 1940's - 26 (plus 8 cartoons) 1950's - 19 1960's - 13 1970's - 8 1980's - 3 MOST REPRESENTED STARS Mickey Rooney - 16 (including "High Speed," billed as Mickey McGuire) Judy Garland - 10 Fred Astaire - 4 Shirley Booth, Joe E. Brown, Frances Langford, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner - 3 MOST REPRESENTED DIRECTORS Norman Taurog - 6 Vincente Minnelli - 5 Daniel Mann - 4 (Friz Freleng, 4 cartoons) Busby Berkeley, George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock, Arthur Penn - 3

CHIP HEARTS MOVIES SEPTEMBER 21-28, 2008 SUN 21 5:15 AM: Little Nellie Kelly (1940, MGM), dir Norman Taurog, 98 min 7:00 AM: Finian's Rainbow (1968, WB/Seven Arts), dir Francis Ford Coppola, 141 min p/s 9:30 AM: Tom Sawyer (1973, UA), dir Don Taylor, 104 min 11:15 AM: Napoleon and Samantha (1972, Disney), dir Bernard McEveety, 92 min 1:00 PM: Lassie Come Home (1943, MGM), dir Fred M. Wilcox, 89 min STARRING SHIRLEY BOOTH 2:45 PM: Come Back, Little Sheba (1952, Paramount), dir Daniel Mann, 96 min. p/s 4:30 PM: The Matchmaker (1958, Paramount), dir Joseph Anthony, 103 min. p/s PRESENTING FANNY BRICE 6:15 PM: Everybody Sing (1938, MGM), dir Edwin L. Marin, 91 min. 8 PM: Funny Girl (1968, Columbia), dir William Wyler, 151 min. 10:30 PM: Ziegfeld Follies (1946, MGM), dir Lemuel Ayers, 110 min. MON 22 SILENT SUNDAY NIGHT SILENTS BY HITCHCOCK 12:30 AM Champagne (1928, BIP), dir Alfred Hitchcock, 86 min 2:00 AM: Easy Virtue (1928, Wardour), dir Alfred Hitchcock, 89 min TCM IMPORTS 3:30 AM: Le Miroir a Deux Faces (1958, Starlight), dir Andre Cayatte, 96 min. 5:15 AM: Stolen Face (1952, Hammer), dir Terrence Fisher, 72 min. PREMIERE 6:30 AM: The Enchanted Cottage (1945, RKO), dir John Cromwell, 91 min A DAY OF FAVORITES MY FAVORITE SERIES: TORCHY BLANE 8:15 AM: Smart Blonde (1937, WB), dir Frank McDonald, 59 min MY FAVORITE COMEDIC ACTOR: CARY GRANT 9:45 AM: The Philadelphia Story (1940, MGM), dir George Cukor, 112 min 11:45 AM: MY FAVORITE COMEDIC ACTRESS: JEAN HARLOW Dinner at Eight (1933, MGM), dir George Cukor, 113 min 1:45 PM: MY FAVORITE DRAMATIC ACTOR: MONTGOMERY CLIFT A Place in the Sun (1951, Paramount), dir George Stevens, 122 min p/s 4 PM: MY FAVORITE DIRECTOR: BILLY WILDER Double Indemnity (1944, Paramount), dir Billy Wilder, 107 min p/s 6 PM: MY FAVORITE DRAMATIC ACTRESS: BETTE DAVIS Now, Voyager (1942, WB), dir Irving Rapper, 117 min A FEW OF MY FAVORITE FILMS 8 PM: The Wizard of Oz (1939, MGM), dir Victor Fleming, 112 min 10 PM: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, MGM), dir Vincente Minnelli, 113 min TUE 23 MIDNIGHT: Bright Eyes (1934, Fox), dir David Butler, 83 min PREMIERE 1:30 AM: Bombshell (1933, MGM), dir Victor Fleming, 96 min 3:15 AM: The Band Wagon (1953, MGM), dir Vincente Minnelli, 111 min SOTM & HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY ROONEY 5:15 AM: Private Screenings: Mickey Rooney (1997, TCM Original), 41 min 6:00 AM: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935, WB), dir William Dieterle, 142 min 8:30 AM: Pete's Dragon (1979, Disney), dir Don Chaffey, 128 min 10:45 AM: The Black Stallion (1979, Disney), dir Carroll Ballard, 118 min 12:45 PM: Strike Up the Band (1940, MGM), dir Busby Berkeley, 120 min 2:45 PM: Young Tom Edison (1940, MGM), dir Norman Taurog, 86 min 4:15 PM: Boy's Town (1938, MGM), dir Norman Taurog, 96 min 6 PM: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961, Paramount), dir Blake Edwards, 115 min p/s 8 PM: Private Screenings: Mickey Rooney (1997, TCM Original), 41 min 9 PM: Babes in Arms (1939, MGM), dir Busby Berkeley, 93 min 10:45 PM: Girl Crazy (1943, MGM), dir Norman Taurog, Busby Berkeley, 99 min WED 24 12:30 PM: A Family Affair (1937, MGM), dir George B. Seitz, 69 min 1:45 AM: Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938, MGM), dir George B. Seitz. 91 min 3:30 AM: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963, UA), dir Stanley Kramer, 192 min 6:45 AM: The Bold and the Brave (1956, RKO), dir Lewis R. Foster, 87 min LIVING LEGENDS: THANKS GUYS! 8:15 AM: Shirley Jones - Bobbikins (1959, Fox), dir Robert Day, 89 min, PREMIERE 9:45 AM: Jane Fonda - Cat Ballou (1965, Columbia), dir Elliott Silverstein, 97 min 11:30 AM: Joan Fontaine - Rebecca (1940, Selznick), dir Alfred Hitchcock, 130 min 1:45 PM: Celeste Holm - All About Eve (1950, Fox), dir Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 138 min, p/s 4:15 PM: Lauren Bacall - To Have and Have Not (1944, WB), dir Howard Hawks, 100 min 6 PM: Lizabeth Scott & Kirk Douglas - The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946, Paramount), dir Lewis Milestone 116 min p/s MY FAVORITE MOVIES IN GENRES I LIKE LEAST 8 PM: WAR The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, Columbia), dir David Lean, 161 min 10:45 PM: WESTERN Destry Rides Again (1939, Universal), dir George Marshall, 94 min p/s THU 25 12:30 AM: EPIC Gandhi (1982, Columbia), dir Richard Attenborough, 188 min 3:45: BIOPIC The Glenn Miller Story (1953, MGM), dir Anthony Mann, 115 min STARRING FRANCES LANGFORD (w/vaudevillians Clancy & Brown) 5:45 AM: Girl Rush (1944, RKO), dir Gordon Douglas, 65 min 7 AM: Radio Stars on Parade (1945, RKO), dir Leslie Goodwins, 69 min MORE VAUDEVILLE ON FILM 8:15 AM: Strike Me Pink (1936, RKO), dir Norman Taurog (Cantor, Merman, Parkyakarkus), 100 min 10 AM: Sarong Girl (1943, Monogram), dir Arthur Dreifuss, 70 min (Tim & Irene Ryan) PREMIERE 11:15 AM: Fireman, Save My Child (1932, RKO), dir Lloyd Bacon, 67 min (Joe E. Brown) 12:30 PM: Some Like It Hot (1959, UA), dir Billy Wilder, 120 min (Joe E. Brown) CONDEMNED! BY THE LEGION OF DECENCY! 2:30 PM: This Thing Called Love (1940, Columbia), dir Alexander Hall, 98 min. 4:45 PM: Design for Living (1933, Paramount), dir Ernst Lubitsch, 91 min p/s 6:30 PM: Two-Faced Woman (1941, MGM), dir George Cukor, 90 min. 8 PM: Grease (1978, Paramount), dir Randal Kleiser, 110 min p/s 10 PM: The Outlaw (1943, UA), dir Howard Hughes, 1943 116 min PREMIERE FRI 26 MIDNIGHT: The Moon is Blue (1953, UA), dir Otto Preminger, 99 min 2:00 AM: Forever Amber (1947, Fox), dir Otto Preminger, 138 min PREMIERE 4:30 AM: Baby Doll (1956, WB), dir Elia Kazan, 114 min p/s HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL REUNION 6:30 AM: Lana Turner - Madame X (1966, Universal) dir David Lowell Rich, 100 min p/s 8:30 AM: Judy Garland & Ann Miller - Easter Parade (1948, MGM), dir Charles Walters, 107 min 10:30 AM: Carol Burnett & John Huston - Annie (1982, Columbia) dir John Huston 127 min 12:45 PM: James Garner - Victor/Victoria (1982, MGM) dir Blake Edwards, 132 min 3:00 PM: Joel McCrea and Fay Wray - The Most Dangerous Game (1932, RKO) dir Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack, 78 min 4:30 PM: Lon Chaney Jr. - Spider Baby (1968, American General) dir Jack Hill, 81 min, p/s 6 PM: Sharon Tate - The Fearless Vampire Killers (MGM,1967) dir Roman Polanski, 108 min HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE GERSHWIN 8 PM: An American in Paris (1951, MGM), dir Vincente Minnelli, 113 min 10 PM: Funny Face (1957, Paramount), dir Stanley Donen, 103 min p/s 11:45 PM: Rhapsody in Blue (1945, WB), dir Irving Rapper, 135 min SAT 27 TCM UNDERGROUND 2 AM: Cobra Woman (1944, Universal), dir Robert Siodmak, 71 min 3:15 AM: Flesh Feast (1970, Viking International Pictures), dir Brad F. Grinter, 72 min 5:30 AM: The Manipulator aka **** Lang Presents (1971, Maron Films) dir Yabo Yablonsky, 85 min 7:00 AM: The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, Universal) dir James Whale, 75 min p/s CARTOON ALLEY: WARTIME BUGS & DAFFY 8:15 AM: The Fifth Column Mouse (1943, WB) dir Friz Freleng, 7 min 8:22 AM: Super-Rabbit (1943, WB) dir Chuck Jones, 8 min 8:30 AM: Falling Hare (1943, WB) dir Robert Clampett, 8 min 8:38 AM: Daffy - The Commando (1943, WB), dir Friz Freleng, 7 min 8:45 AM: Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944, WB), dir Friz Freleng, 7 min 8:52 AM: The Weakly Reporter (1944, WB), dir Chuck Jones, 7 min 8:59 AM: Swooner Crooner (1944, WB), dir Frank Tashlin, 7 min 9:06 AM: Herr Meets Hare (1945, WB), dir Friz Freleng, 7 min CHILLS & GIGGLES 9:15 AM: Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955, Universal), dir Charles Lamont, 79 min, p/s 10:45 AM: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951, Universal), dir Charles Lamont, 82 min p/s HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYNE MEADOWS 12:15 PM: Song of the Thin Man (1947, MGM), dir Edward Buzzell, 86 min 1:45 PM: Lady in the Lake (1947, MGM), dir Robert Montgomery, 105 min HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARTHUR PENN 3:30 PM: The Miracle Worker (1965, UA), dir Arthur Penn, 106 min 5:30 PM: Little Big Man (1970, National General Pictures), dir Arthur Penn, 139 min p/s THE ESSENTIALS 8 PM: Bonnie and Clyde (1967, WB/Seven Arts), dir Arthur Penn, 112 min PREMIERE 100 YEARS SINCE HENRY FORD LAUNCHED THE FIRST MODEL T 10 PM: Butterfield 8 (1960, MGM), dir Daniel Mann, 109 min SUN 28 MIDNIGHT: The Bad and the Beautiful (1952, MGM), dir Vincente Minnelli, 118 min 2:00 AM: Spinout (1966, MGM). dir Norman Taurog, 90 min 3:30 AM: Speedway (1966, MGM), dir Norman Taurog, 94 min 5:15: High Speed (1932, Columbia), dir D. Ross Lederman, 62 min

I'm in...my only difficulty is choosing which movies I love the MOST.

There is an incredible interview with Sidney Lumet in the new issue of Rolling Stone. I've said it before, I'll say it again, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" was my favorite new movie released last year. I am STUNNED that Mr. Lumet wasn't noticed by the Oscars. If "Devil" wasn't to your taste, throw "Network" or "Dog Day Afternoon" into your VCRs or DVRs or whatever. Refresh yourself on Sidney Lumet. Pick up Rolling Stone. It really is a terrific interview.

I obviously agree with choices like Jack Smith, and certainly the equally Earth-shattering "Night of the Living Dead." Hello? Todd Haynes' "Superstar."

Friday! That gives me two days to figure out lzcutter's cryptic "reindeer games" reference. Heehee. Can't wait!

Thanks, Tricia!

I hope some of you saw Mickey Rooney present "Best Female Actor" on the SAG Awards this week. I know I endlessly tout The Mick on these boards, but I'm happy that the Screen Actor's Guild noticed that he has been a star since...HELLO!...the 1920's. Even if his recent work wasn't necessarily award-worthy, how great is it that SAG respected his life's work enough to ask him to present a major award? And let's note (as I say endlessly on these boards), Mickey has worked every single year in film to entertain us since the early '20's til NOW...the only time he took off, he was busy with service in WWII. OTHER THAN FIGHTING IN WORLD WAR II, he has devoted his entire life to making us laugh --- from "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" to Andy Hardy to "Mad Mad Mad Mad World" to "A Night at the Museum." The Oscars NEED to honor the two biggest stars of the past who are still with us, while they are still with us...Mickey and Doris Day.

I am in! Please don't tease us...just spill the details. I can't wait to play.

What's obscene? If Jayne Mansfield being naked is branded obscene --- THAT'S obscene. It's ridiculous to think of someone naked as obscene, but come on, Jayne Mansfield in particular.

I LOVE threads like this. I can certainly see why you'd pick movies like "Frankenstein" for storm watching...it's almost like you're wrapped in special effects. Myself, my favorite rainy-day movies are the cuddly down-homes ones. My endlessly-stated all-time fave "Meet Me in St. Louis" heads the list, but I might need to pop in "Frankenstein" next time. I have a definite favorite CD to listen to on a rainy Sunday: Billie Holiday's "Lady in Satin."

Let me join in the call for seeing "Ragtime." I'm a lifelong old-movie (and classic movie star) fan, and "Ragtime" is actually pretty rarely seen, at least amongst people like us TCMers. I never saw it til a few years ago, and I liked it. And if it is a Cagney month, it ought to be included.

So sad, he was so good in "Brokeback Mountain" and the previews for his role as the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie look amazing. And he leaves behind a very young daughter -- even sadder. So much misinformation is flying around (for example, many people reported that he was in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment, one person even reported that Mary-Kate was with him --- both totally false) --- let's all just mourn the loss and see what the facts are later, without speculating.

patful, thanks for that info... i like elinor donahue (and i am a fan of "the andy griffith show"), and i am obviously a fan of margaret o'brien --- how did i not know this? thanks for the info! i can't wait til TCM runs them again.

We movie fans don't remember her just as the wife of Bob Newhart. The Birds! A beautiful lady, a terrific actress, thanks for the endless hours of entertainment. RIP, Suzanne Pleshette.

Is this one of those movies we Movie Fans have all managed not to see? I hadn't seen it either before today. Thanks, TCM! I have to agree, Steve McQueen at his best (that might reflect my personal taste --- I know he's good in all those war movies, they're just not my personal taste). He was terrific in this one. Natalie Wood --- I am just not a fan, pretty much, except for "Miracle on 34th Street." Obviously beautiful, and charismatic, but just not a very good actress. It was nice to see this today...a definite time capsule that somehow I hadn't seen before.

Personally, I love Margaret O'Brien. "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" and "Tenth Avenue Angel" are adorable, and "Meet Me in St. Louis" is my personal favorite movie. Adult Margaret also appeared in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" (starring fellow MGM star Angela Lansbury) called "Who Shot J.B. Fletcher?" She was a member of a mystery-readers fan club --- alongside Betty Garrett, Jane Withers, Terry Moore, Janet Blair, and Marie Windsor! "Murder, She Wrote" reruns on Hallmark again; Angela Lansbury often used her old Hollywood pals as guest stars, so it's worth checking the episodes if you want to see stars from the 30's, 40's, and 50's --- in the 80's.