CineMaven

"I've been watching the James Garner birthday tribute but had no idea R. G. Armstrong had one too and 94 to boot. That drawl of his is like good barbecue sauce; smoky, tangy and sweet all at the same time. I could listen to him all day..." - << (( wouldbestar )) >> Wow! What a well-turned phrase you wrote on R.G. Armstrong. Nice. ****** "It was my pleasure, CineMaven." - << (( Mongo )) >> :x

I am utterly captivated by Gail Russell in ?THE UNINVITED.? From the moment of her entrance in the film...when she answers the door, I say "WHO IS THAT?" She has a most different look from any ingenue of the 1940's I'd say. There's a vulnerable lusciousness about her. She plays Stella Meredith, who is haunted by the memory of her mother who might be a ghost in the strange old house bought by Pamela and Rick wonderfully played by Ruth Hussey and Ray Milland. I liked her spunkiness in standing up to her grandfather, and how she was in the moonlit music room where Rick truly begins to fall in love with her. Director Lewis Allen gives her a glorious close-up as she talks of her mother's spirit being in that house and the warmth she feels from it. Her jet black hair and blue eyes are a stunning combination. The song "Stella by Starlight" is so won- fully romantic; Victor Young's the composer. I've got to check out more of his work. I probably know him without even knowing him. There is something so farwaway about Gail. Poor girl, tragedy awaited her. Ray Milland is really growing on me. I don't understand myself. Why does it sometimes take me so long to recognize the good ones. And boy, is Ray a good one. < Sigh! > There are none so blind as those who will not see. Chita Rivera is a wonderful co-host. Reading a review from you on "THE UNIVITED" might be scarier than the movie itself...but I'll risk it. Have you seen it, Bronxie?

If I may throw this shrimp on the barbie...one of the great classic songs: . Who's baaaaaad?

I'm watching "THE UNIVITED" now, and it gives me an idea for my next list. I'll need a day or two to get it together Foxy Rey...but it's-a-comin'. ;-)

Or....hey who are we talkin' about? Oh yeah, me and Gable and a long long train ride West. Can someone distract Eva Marie while I work my magic. That competition will ruin me. Thanx!

Trapeze??? Wrong movie star. You're talking about Burt Lancaster.

"A stage hand drenches Marilyn Monroe, Tommy Rettig and Robert Mitchum in preparation for a scene of 'River of No Return'." I thought this was going to be some type of 'wet t-shirt' photo, Mongo. P.S. Thanxxx for the pix of Doris Day on her birthday.

"I've seen "Duel At Diablo" and that is a good, stark film. It has the bonus of Sidney Poitier in it as well but Garner is quite rough in this one. He is not completely without a heart but it looks like it doesn't come easy to him." << ( Movieman1957 ) >> Awwwwww man, I LOVE "DUEL AT DIABLO." It has one of my favorite movie theme songs (my favorite is from "THE LONG SHIPS" also featuring Sidney Poitier). I love all the story lines and themes intersecting throughout the film. Garner rough tough and rugged, bringing back the wife that Dennis Weaver no longer wants b'cuz she has been kidnapped by the Apaches... Sidney busting broncs for the military and has to travel along with them... Garner falling for the wife remembering his wife was also Native-American and killed by whites...the Indians wanting to get back Weaver's wife, played by Bibi Andersson b'cuz she has the child of the Chief's son (the Chief played by that great Native-American actor John Hoyt ;-) ) and a rousing 'Cowboys & Indians' battle. My parents took us to see it in the movies when it came out and I didn't believe Sidney Poitier as a cowboy. How could he play a cowboy? There was no such thing. Uhhh...I learned my lesson and learned my history. Boy, were there ever Black cowboys.

Tarrrrrrrr - zan.....('32) :x I think Lupe Velez would most certainly agree. Here's to sharing!

Tarrrrrrrr - zan.....('32) :x I think Lupe Velez would most certainly agree. Here's to sharing!

Even better. Uhmmm, I mean...thanxxx for the warning.

We're on the same wave length (see we're sharing already). That scene where she's walking behind Ray on the road is exactly what I was talking about. Exactly. (How the heck'd you do that?!!!) I haven't (honestly) seen many of her movies, but I've got to reap the wild wind and watch her hold back the dawn. Ollie - I saw Rhett buying a ticket on Amtrak. That's why I'm going to the film festival via train cross country. P.S. If the government does shut down this Friday will Michele Bachmann still be able to get her hair done? (She's got a beautiful head of hair). I'm stocking up on Raisinets.

Tarzan??? Oh... Now that's a Twizzler of a different twist. I'll take Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Let's let the poor guy rest on Sunday. There's only so many ...'movies' a man can watch.

Good moanin' Jackaaaaaaay. I know about falling asleep in the middle of a movie. What you've got to do (really) is just set your dvr when you're watching something. And if you do fall asleep, you'll have the picture in the morning. (But the way the world works...if you set your dvr, you're guaranteed NOT to fall asleep. I dunno how that works, but that's how that works). Yeah Virginia Field was like a "Lana" blonde. Gorgeous. There were a number of blondes in the movie all with different temperatures...Iris Adrian...Hillary Brooke. But Virginia was the heat-seeking missile. But you know how the movie ended...just as you wrote. I must say again...there's something about Paulette Goddard though. She makes me think of Ann Sheridan in the fun department. There's a "knowingness" about her. She's got a great voice and smile and walk. Scarlett & Rhett. Whew! Well...call me a c0cK-eYeD OpTiMiSt...but I think she does win him over. But she'll have to jump through some hoops and have a very very very deep understanding about her self. She will have to show Rhett (in deed) that she has changed. She won't be so "fiddle dee dee." She'll have the gravitas she had when she was laying on that divan just before Bonnie was killed. But I'm sure a little part of him would still want to pamper her. They'll come together. No other woman will do, no matter how many he sleeps with. Scarlett is in his blood. Edited by: CineMaven on Apr 6, 2011 8:52 AM - But what do I know? I'm a Yankee (and proud to be one!) Apparently Ollie has seen Rhett in the Castro district with Madeleine Elster's grandmother...the mad Carlotta. Now we know why she went mad...

Actually I did indeed. I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Treat it like a movie and tell me how I'm doing. As for Glo-lo...your descriptions really do her justice. Those were some swell choices.

Hi there Molo. Your post is replying to me, but your post is directed to ILRM. Loving the screencaps and your comments about a few of the Grahame's gems. Hope all is well with you and yours.

"I'm going to be shipwrecked on your island," Jack Favell. Hi welcome. It's a big island. I'll be happy for the company. But...uhmmmm...you're going to have to bring your own videos. Oh, and Twizzlers. Sorry...I don't share.

You're giving me way too much credit, CinemAva! No studying involved, just too many hours wasted drooling over this movie. And you should have said something to me that night! I'm completely oblivious to my surroundings, especially if I'm outside freezing (yes, it was still too cold for me). Naaaah, not too much credit; calling it like I'm seeing it. I didn't mean "studying" academically...but I mean it in the very way you described...drooling...not wasting. This movie is almost seventy-two years old. There's got to be a reason we're still interested in these characters...and its engendered such interesting conversation below. Right now I just finished watching a nice little piece of 1940's fluff: "THE CRYSTAL BALL" with tall dark and dashing Ray Milland, quite a master in his own right doing light sophisticated comedy. No this flick wasn't sophisticated but it did have Paulette Goddard. Boy oh boy, Paulette. There's something about her that's special. I just now asked my father what he thought of Paulette Goddard. Remembering her, he told me: "Ahhh yeah, Paulette Goddard. She was a good actress. She was a lot of fun to watch." Father knows best. Dress warmly until June, Miss G. ;-)

Miss Goddess...your words have stunned me and left me speechless. But not too speechless to pay you a compliment. This is obviously a film you've loved and studied and...might have lived in some ways or another(?) It's all there in your post. Your writing...your writing...your writing...the poetry in your writing is breathtaking and the lessons learned, wow! So I see, ma'am. This is how its done. Why anyone uses this board or classic films to be negative or flaming or hurtful is beyond my comprehension. I should have invested my emotion last night in the dream of "GWTW" but after reading your heartfelt post, I got a taste of what I missed. P.S. Those were some bad beige boots. Yeah, we passed that close to each other, near the theatre but you were engrossed in your conversation and I didn't want to intrude. MM1957 - "My guess though is that she would still want him back. Partly because she loves him still and partly because she has to win. And maybe there is a little she doesn't want to be alone." Ooooh, that makes sense to me...Scarlett is nothing if not a winner...no matter how she loses. And I liked what Miss G. wrote to speak to that. The movie perhaps is also about what it looks like to NOT learn life's lessons. Jackaaaaay - P.S. Mava - She does win him back. :x I'm inclined to believe there is just one glimmer...one slim possibility of that. When Scarlett tells Rhett that Melanie has said "...he loves you so," I caught how Rhett quickly got up and packed. Like he didn't want her to see his love; that he didn't want to admit to himself that darn it all he still cared for that little vixen. You know how folks walk away when they want something. P.S.S. Vivien Leigh's beauty was staggering, and Victor Fleming's production is one for the ages.

"Do they have cable on desert isles? Would you ride a bike like Ed Begley Jr to provide your electricity? Just asking." - << ( jbh ) ?>> On MY island there 'll be electricity.

MY GOD, HE DESERVED HIS TITLE AS "THE KING!" I have to be emotionally ready to watch "GONE WITH THE WIND" - it is such an epic with layers upon layers of emotions and motivations. So I only caught one scene of this great motion picture tonight - when Rhett overhears Scarlett profess her love to Ashley. The whole movie's there in that scene...at least the intertwined relationships of these three tragic people are revealed. When Rhett laughs at her and says "And you were going to hate him for the rest of your life" I'm left breathless. Is there any wonder or doubt that Clark Gable is a movie star...THE Movie Star of Hollywood? (And by the end of the film and all his character goes through...Gable really shows he is an Actor as well). And Vivien Leigh...she steps to Ashley and makes her naked declaration. All that love and desire and innocence of what it really means to be in love...and all her beauty, he had to be flattered...and vague, in order to implicitly keep her coming back. I just got a teensy taste of "GWTW" but all of my memories of the movie flood back seeing Gable & Leigh and hearing Max Steiner's melody. I have a question for you Miss Goddess...and do forgive me if you've answered it already among your 24K posts. Do you believe Scarlett ever wins Rhett back?

Ha! I hope the regulars can hear the shouts over our "guests." I'm putting in a call to Barranca very shortly.

Why Ollie T. - "I'll confess that the Doris films are among my most-watched-ever." They are? Wow! I?m shocked and chagrined by this revelation. "LOVER COME BACK and PILLOW TALK especially, but it's SEND ME NO FLOWERS that convinces me of Tony Randall's greatness as their perenial sidekick - his off-the-train drunken 'hello' kiss to Doris - she looks so shocked and I have a feeling that's an ad-lib - she looks so surprised." I love drunken Tony Randall at the country club...rubbing the bar, and an oak bench ( It's so smooooooth." ) trying to write Rock?s eulogy, and this nearly kills me: when Rock and Tony share a bed and Tony says: "Complaints, complaints! I can complain a little too you know. You ever cut your toenails?" "MINK has some great scenes, too - Gig Young's being face-slapped, the running insider-tips between Gig and his psychiatrist Alan Hewitt. Cary Grant being so exasperated by Doris' antics, and John Astin, at his slimy-est best." I so agree with you. When that dog jumps in the car after Gig I fall out. And Audrey Meadows' sarcastic quips are a dream. And when John Astin tries to chase down his own hijacked truck down and jumps over those bushes...again, I?m toast! John Fielder being busted in on during his honeymoon is priceless. "All of these films have great supporting casts, and I think that's a big reason for my easy ability to watch them over and over. GLASS BOTTOM BOAT with Paul Lynde and Dick Martin." I draw the line at this film though. That boat should've sunk. "Are these the last gasps of the Screwball Comedies?? You need not resuscitate it. That patient has died. Its spirit is dead. Hi Jackaaaaay - "I've seen Send Me No Flowers.... heck, I've actually BEEN in Send Me No Flowers, playing the Doris Day role.... I had no idea what I was doing. The audience probably went home, took a shower and brushed their teeth, then popped in a VHS tape of Doris and Rock to see what real actors could do with the roles." WHAT??!! You did this as a play? Ooooh, I would have loved to see your take on the Doris Day character. Jackaaaaaaaaaay, I also want to offer my congratulations on 11K's. Smart, poetic, insightful and funny. Keep 'em coming!

"Move Over Darling" was cute. I didn't care for "The Thrill Of It All" though. A Doris junkie? I can get with that. Who needs a cure. I think she was a very under-rated actress. She could do comedy, drama, sing and dance? I mean, what more would a fan want from their movie stars? Take care, Sis. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DORIS DAY!!!

Hi there Jackaaaaaaaay. You've never seen "PILLOW TALK." Well... May I recommend "PILLOW TALK" to you. It is such a fun movie, really. In fact, I'd recommend their trilogy for you. If you're ever in the doldrums and you put those films on, your spirits will be lifted. Tell me...have you seen "LOVER COME BACK" or "SEND ME NO FLOWERS" in your cinema travels?? Your post made me sound smart. I'd like to think I meant that Doris herself was cotton candy and champagne. And your explanation sums it up nicely I might add. I went yesterday to see the TCM free screening of "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE." Angela Lansbury was there for the Q & A. She was fantastic. She's so present, elegant. And Robert Osborne looks so dashing! She said "I've never seen a movie before or since, like "The Manchurian Can- didate." She was flattered to be asked to play the part of Mrs. Iselin. She said movies never really knew how to use her and they weren't used to having a real actress on board. She had a certain regret for how her career didn't advance in movies beyond "Manchurian..." She said "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" was the next role she had that had any great success. Broadway gave her the career as an Actress she wanted. There was a Q & A as well. And the movie is still eerily prescient.