LsDoorMat
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Posts posted by LsDoorMat
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2 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Years from now AMC will be known for their shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men much more so than showing 'old movies'. Much more so.
While I didn't watch Breaking Bad (too violent for my taste), Mad Men was the only 'must see' T.V. show for the wife and I. This original type programming is much more creative than showing movies madeby others decades ago.
And they will also be known for turning the viewing of "The Godfather" into a five hour event due to it being stuffed with commercials.
I have to ask, JJG, if you really don't care for "movies made by others decades ago" what are you doing here, since that is a big part of what TCM does? I mean this in the most polite way possible. I really want to know.
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It's interesting that 15 years after its demise, so many people have such fond distinct memories of the old AMC. Do you think that "Breaking Bad" or "Mad Men" ever got anybody through chemo and cancer? That when a couple gets old they'll say to one another "Remember that Christmas Eve marathon of Walking Dead when the little boy had to shoot his dying mother in the head to keep her from becoming a zombie? Oh the memories!" I doubt it.
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Who beat who for best director Oscar: Year indicates year/period for which films were judged, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscar.com, Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia
2017: Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) — beat Jordan Peele (Get Out), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)
2016: Damien Chazelle (La La Land) — beat Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
2015: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant) — beat Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
2014: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) — beat Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)
2013: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) — beat David O. Russell (American Hustle), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
2012: Ang Lee (Life of Pi) — beat Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Michael Haneke (Amour)
2011: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) — beat Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
2010: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) — beat David Fincher (The Social Network), Ethan Coen & Joel Coen (True Grit), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David O. Russell (The Fighter)
2009: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) — beat James Cameron (Avatar), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Lee Daniels (Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire)
2008: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) — beat Gus Van Sant (Milk), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
2007: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men) — beat Jason Reitman (Juno), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
2006: Martin Scorsese (The Departed) — beat Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima), Stephen Frears (The Queen), Paul Greengrass (United 93), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel)
2005: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) — beat Steven Spielberg (Munich), George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), Paul Haggis (Crash), Bennett Miller (Capote)
2004: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) — beat Martin Scorsese (The Aviator), Mike Leigh (Vera Drake), Alexander Payne (Sideways), Taylor Hackford (Ray)
2003: Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) — beat Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Clint Eastwood (Mystic River), Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), Fernando Meirelles (City of God)
2002: Roman Polanski (The Pianist) — beat Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York), Rob Marshall (Chicago), Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her), Stephen Daldry (The Hours)
2001: Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) — beat Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down), Robert Altman (Gosford Park), David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)
2000: Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) — beat Ridley Scott (Gladiator), Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich), Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot)
1999: Sam Mendes (American Beauty) — beat M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), Michael Mann (The Insider), Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules)
1998: Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) — beat John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful), Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), Peter Weir (The Truman Show)
1997: James Cameron (Titanic) — beat Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting), Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential), Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty), Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter)
1996: Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) — beat Joel Coen (Fargo), Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies), Scott Hicks (Shine), Milos Forman (The People Vs. Larry Flynt)
1995: Mel Gibson (Braveheart) — beat Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking), Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), Chris Noonan (Babe), Michael Radford (The Postman)
1994: Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) — beat Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Robert Redford (Quiz Show), Woody Allen (Bullets Over Broadway), Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colors: Red)
1993: Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List) — beat Robert Altman (Short Cuts), James Ivory (The Remains of the Day), Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father), Jane Campion (The Piano)
1992: Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) — beat Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman), Robert Altman (The Player), James Ivory (Howards End), Neil Jordan (The Crying Game)
1991: Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) — beat Oliver Stone (JFK), John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood), Ridley Scott (Thelma & Louise), Barry Levinson (Bugsy)
1990: Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) — beat Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Part III), Stephen Frears (The Grifters), Barbet Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune)
1989: Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July) — beat Woody Allen (Crimes and Misdemeanors), Kenneth Branagh (Henry V), Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society)
1988: Barry Levinson (Rain Man) — beat Martin Scorsese (The Last Temptation of Christ), Mike Nichols (Working Girl), Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning), Charles Crichton (A Fish Called Wanda)
1987: Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor) — beat Norman Jewison (Moonstruck), Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction), Lasse Hallström (My Life as a Dog), John Boorman (Hope and Glory)
1986: Oliver Stone (Platoon) — beat David Lynch (Blue Velvet), Woody Allen (Hannah and her Sisters), Roland Joffé (The Mission), James Ivory (A Room with a View)
1985: Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa) — beat John Huston (Prizzi's Honor), Peter Weir (Witness), Akira Kurosawa (Ran), Hector Babenco (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
1984: Milos Forman (Amadeus) — beat David Lean (A Passage to India), Woody Allen (Broadway Danny Rose), Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields), Robert Benton (Places in the Heart)
1983: James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment) — beat Ingmar Bergman (Fanny and Alexander), Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies), Mike Nichols (Silkwood), Peter Yates (The Dresser)
1982: Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) — beat Steven Spielberg (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), Sydney Pollack (Tootsie), Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot)
1981: Warren Beatty (Reds) — beat Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond), Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire), Louis Malle (Atlantic City)
1980: Robert Redford (Ordinary People) — beat Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull), Roman Polanski (Tess), David Lynch (The Elephant Man), Richard Rush (The Stunt Man)
1979: Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) — beat Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Bob Fosse (All That Jazz), Peter Yates (Breaking Away), Edouard Molinaro (La cage aux folles)
1978: Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) — beat Warren Beatty and Buck Henry (Heaven Can Wait), Woody Allen (Interiors), Hal Ashby (Coming Home), Alan Parker (Midnight Express)
1977: Woody Allen (Annie Hall) — beat George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope), Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Fred Zinnemann (Julia), Herbert Ross (The Turning Point)
1976: John G. Avildsen (Rocky) — beat Sidney Lumet (Network), Ingmar Bergman (Face to Face), Alan J. Pakula (All the President’s Men), Lina Wertmüller (Seven Beauties: Lina Wertmüller)
1975: Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) — beat Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon), Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon), Robert Altman (Nashville), Federico Fellini (Amarcord)
1974: Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Part II) — beat Roman Polanski (Chinatown), Bob Fosse (Lenny), John Cassavetes (A Woman Under the Influence), François Truffaut (Day for Night)
1973: George Roy Hill (The Sting) — beat William Friedkin (The Exorcist), George Lucas (American Graffiti), Ingmar Bergman (Cries and Whispers), Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris)
1972: Bob Fosse (Cabaret) — beat Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Sleuth), Jan Troell (The Emigrants), John Boorman (Deliverance)
1971: William Friedkin (The French Connection) — beat Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange), Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show), John Schlesinger (Sunday Bloody Sunday), Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof)
1970: Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton) — beat Arthur Hiller (Love Story), Federico Fellini (Fellini Satyricon), Robert Altman (MASH), Ken Russell (Women in Love)
1969: John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) — beat George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), Sydney Pollack (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?), Arthur Penn (Alice’s Restaurant), Costa-Gavras (Z)
1968: Carol Reed (Oliver!) — beat Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey), Anthony Harvey (The Lion in Winter), Gillo Pontecorvo (The Battle of Algiers), Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet)
1967: Mike Nichols (The Graduate) — beat Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde), Stanley Kramer (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night), Richard Brooks (In Cold Blood)
1966: Fred Zinnemann (A Man for All Seasons) — beat Mike Nichols (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), Richard Brooks (The Professionals), Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up), Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman)
1965: Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) — beat David Lean (Doctor Zhivago), John Schlesinger (Darling), William Wyler (The Collector), Hiroshi Teshigahara (Woman in the Dunes)
1964: George Cukor (My Fair Lady) — beat Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove), Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins), Peter Glenville (Becket), Richard Burton (Becket), Mihalis Kakogiannis (Zorba the Greek)
1963: Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) — beat Elia Kazan (America, America), Federico Fellini (8½), Martin Ritt (Hud), Otto Preminger (The Cardinal)
1962: David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) — beat Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird), Arthur Penn (The Miracle Worker), Frank Perry (David and Lisa), Pietro Germi (Divorce — Italian Style)
1961: Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins (West Side Story) — beat Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita), Stanley Kramer (Judgment at Nuremberg), Robert Rossen (The Hustler), J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone)
1960: Billy Wilder (The Apartment) — beat Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho), Fred Zinnemann (The Sundowners), Jules Dassin (Never on Sunday), Jack Cardiff (Sons and Lovers)
1959: William Wyler (Ben-Hur) — beat Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot), George Stevens (The Diary of Anne Frank), Jack Clayton (Room at the Top), Fred Zinnemann (The Nun’s Story)
1958: Vincente Minnelli (Gigi) — beat Richard Brooks (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones), Mark Robson (The Inn of the Sixth Happiness), Robert Wise (I Want to Live!)
1957: David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai) — beat Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men), Billy Wilder (Witness for the Prosecution), Mark Robson (Peyton Place), Joshua Logan (Sayonara)
1956: George Stevens (Giant) — beat Michael Anderson (Around the World in Eighty Days), King Vidor (War and Peace), William Wyler (Friendly Persuasion), Walter Lang (The King and I)
1955: Delbert Mann (Marty) — beat Elia Kazan (East of Eden), David Lean (Summertime), Joshua Logan (Picnic), John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock)
1954: Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront) — beat Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window), Billy Wilder (Sabrina), George Seaton (The Country Girl), William A. Wellman (The High and the Mighty)
1953: Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) — beat George Stevens (Shane), William Wyler (Roman Holiday), Billy Wilder (Stalag 17), Charles Walters (Lili)
1952: John Ford (The Quiet Man) — beat Fred Zinnemann (High Noon), Cecil B. DeMille (The Greatest Show on Earth), John Huston (Moulin Rouge), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (5 Fingers)
1951: George Stevens (A Place in the Sun) — beat John Huston (The African Queen), Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire), Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris), William Wyler (Detective Story)
1950: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve) — beat Billy Wilder (Sunset Blvd.), Carol Reed (The Third Man), John Huston (The Asphalt Jungle), George Cukor (Born Yesterday)
1949: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives) — beat William Wyler (The Heiress), Carol Reed (The Fallen Idol), Robert Rossen (All The King’s Men), William A. Wellman (Battleground)
1948: John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) — beat Laurence Olivier (Hamlet), Fred Zinnemann (The Search), Jean Negulesco (Johnny Belinda), Anatole Litvak (The Snake Pit)
1947: Elia Kazan (Gentleman’s Agreement) — beat David Lean (Great Expectations), George Cukor (A Double Life), Henry Koster (The Bishop’s Wife), Edward Dmytryk (Crossfire)
1946: William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives) — beat Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life), David Lean (Brief Encounter), Clarence Brown (The Yearling), Robert Siodmak (The Killers)
1945: Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend) — beat Alfred Hitchcock (Spellbound), Clarence Brown (National Velvet), Leo McCarey (The Bells of St. Mary’s), Jean Renoir (The Southerner)
1944: Leo McCarey (Going My Way) — beat Alfred Hitchcock (Lifeboat), Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity), Otto Preminger (Laura), Henry King (Wilson)
1943: Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) — beat George Stevens (The More the Merrier), Ernst Lubitsch (Heaven Can Wait), Henry King (The Song of Bernadette), Clarence Brown (The Human Comedy)
1942: William Wyler (Mrs. Miniver) — beat Michael Curtiz (Yankee Doodle Dandy), John Farrow (Wake Island), Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest), Sam Wood (Kings Row)
1941: John Ford (How Green Was My Valley) — beat Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), Howard Hawks (Sergeant York), William Wyler (The Little Foxes), Alexander Hall (Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
1940: John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath) — beat Alfred Hitchcock (Rebecca), George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story), William Wyler (The Letter), Sam Wood (Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman)
1939: Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) — beat Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), John Ford (Stagecoach), William Wyler (Wuthering Heights), Sam Wood (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)
1938: Frank Capra (You Can’t Take It with You) — beat Michael Curtiz (Four Daughters), Michael Curtiz (Angels with Dirty Faces), Norman Taurog (Boys Town), King Vidor (The Citadel)
1937: Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth) — beat William A. Wellman (A Star Is Born), Gregoy La Cava (Stage Door), Sidney Franklin (The Good Earth), William Dieterle (The Life of Emile Zola)
1936: Frank Capra (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town) — beat Robert Z. Leonard (The Great Ziegfeld), William Wyler (Dodsworth), W.S. Van Dyke (San Francisco), Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey)
1935: John Ford (The Informer) — beat Michael Curtiz, write-in (Captain Blood), Frank Lloyd (Mutiny on the Bounty), Henry Hathaway (The Lives of a Bengal Lancer)
1934: Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) — beat W.S. Van Dyke (The Thin Man), Victor Schertzinger (One Night of Love)
1932-33: Frank Lloyd (Cavalcade) — beat Frank Capra (Lady for a Day), George Cukor (Little Women)
1931-32: Frank Borzage (Bad Girl) — beat King Vidor (The Champ), Josef von Sternberg (Shanghai Express)
1930-31: Norman Taurog (Skippy) — beat Josef von Sternberg (Morocco), Wesley Ruggles (Cimarron), Clarence Brown (A Free Soul), Lewis Milestone (The Front Page)
1929-30: Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) — beat Clarence Brown (Romance), Clarence Brown (Anna Christie), Robert Z. Leonard (The Divorcee), Ernst Lubitsch (The Love Parade), King Vidor (Hallelujah!)
1928-29: Frank Lloyd (The Divine Lady) — beat Lionel Barrymore (Madame X), Frank Lloyd (Weary River), Frank Lloyd (Drag), Harry Beaumont (The Broadway Melody), Irving Cummings (In Old Arizona), Ernst Lubitsch (The Patriot)
1927-28 (drama): Frank Borzage (7th Heaven) — beat Herbert Brenon (Sorrell and Son)
1927-28 (comedy): Lewis Milestone (Two Arabian Knights) — beat Ted Wilde (Speedy)
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On 4/4/2018 at 12:42 AM, sewhite2000 said:
All I can think about is this person who said they were 16 back in 2003 is 31 now. All this endless bumping of threads 15 years old or more that has been going on for months now is freaking me out. Sorta interesting to see what people were saying a generation ago, but don't the people on this board now have enough ideas of their own to generate?
I mentioned this earlier, but I bumped this thread along with a few others on Easter Sunday when we had 149 pages of undeleted SPAM take over the message boards for hours. I did this only to measure the speed with which the SPAM was appearing.
My favorite memory of AMC - I was packing up to take an open book test on Computer Graphics in graduate school in August 1992 - back when we had to do the math computations ourselves and when OpenGL was in the form of open source VOGL - and Palmy Days (1931) starring Eddie Cantor was on AMC. Specifically the number "There's Nothing Too Good For My Baby" was playing. It put me in such a cheerful and relaxed mood that I aced the final.
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Bright Lights (1930) 7/10Dorothy Mackaill as Fred Astaire...... in one of the wacky early talkies that I bet Michael Curtiz wishes he could have erased from his resume.
I give this 7 stars mainly for the early talkie fan. It really is pretty good for a 1930 back-stager and pretty original. The alternate title "Adventures in Africa" is rather puzzling since the movie spends all of ten minutes there, in a South African cabaret. However these are important moments as the conclusion to the entire story is dependent on events there.
The movie opens with Louanne's (Dorothy Mackaill) last night on the Broadway stage as she is marrying the wealthy Fairchild after the show. Fairchild is accompanied by his sour-faced mother and sister who look more like they are going to a funeral than a wedding since they are none too happy about the family heir marrying an entertainer. Frank Fay has a very good role here as Wally, the man who has been Louanne's protector and somewhat on-stage partner for years. Wally is definitely in love with Louanne, and Louanne seems to have a bit of a thing for Wally in spite of her engagement, although the love has remained unrequited. If you think it the thing of curiosity seekers to see Frank Fay playing romantic lead to Dorothy Mackail, then think again. The two have real chemistry.
The fly in the ointment? Noah Beery as the diamond smuggler Miguel who resents Louanne because she once forcefully resisted his attempted rape. Honestly, Mr. Beery! Didn't Warner Brothers ever think you plausible as simply asking a girl out for dinner and a show? In every early Warner Brothers talkie in which I've seen Mr. Beery he's either threatening human sacrifice (Golden Dawn) or execution by firing squad (Noah's Ark) in order to have his way with a woman.
Besides all of the drama, there are some really great musical numbers, some bizarre to the point of being charming. The opening number has Frank Fay in a big musical production entitled "Wall Street". From the lyrics people didn't like bankers any more in 1930 than they do today. After seeing Dorothy Mackail scantily clad for the tropical hula number "Cannibal Love" in which her fellow cannibals yield shields with crosses on them - maybe they ate some Crusaders??? - she returns for "Man About Town" dressed like Fred Astaire in tuxedo and tails with her blonde hair hidden under her top hat. The grand prize for most bizarre number has to go to a very short jazz number performed in the South African club by an unnamed stout short female singer with a booming voice accompanied by a rather clumsy chorus dancing right behind her. It looks as if any of the chorines took a wrong step and kicked just a little harder the jazz singing dynamo would have taken it right in the pants and landed in the front row of the audience.
Also look out for Frank McHugh as a drunken fresh reporter who even in 1930 is sporting his trademark mischievous laugh and James Murray of "The Crowd" in a rare talkie appearance.
I watched the Warner Archive copy of Bright Lights, and if you want to see it the way it should be seen I would advise getting a copy of this restored version. It doesn't have that fuzzy look that black and white copies of two strip Technicolor films generally have, and the picture and sound are crisp and clear throughout.Source: TCM Michael Curtiz spotlight and Warner Archive DVD-R-
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"Sodom und Gomorhha" (1922) was filmed in Vienna, before Michael Curtiz even came to the U.S. Warner Brothers has no rights to this film. It does survive apparently, because one imdb reviewer mentioned that it was viewed at a film festival in Europe in the 1990s. "Under a Texas Moon" has been restored by an archive, but it is unclear as to whether or not Warner Brothers has any rights to this restored version. The fact is, Warner Brothers was a very poor steward of their film history. We are lucky that the Jazz Singer is intact. "Gold Diggers of Broadway" (1929), an all color sound film that made more money in the U.S. than any other film until Gone With the Wind is lost save for two reels and the Vitaphone sound discs.
Here is a short list of films of Michael Curtiz that survived pre-WB, and a history of films he directed in the late silent-early sound era and their survival rate.
The Undesirable (1915) - Survives on Olive DVD.
Labyrinth of Horror (1921) - Survives on youtube...completely silent.
Sodom and Gomorrha (1922) - Survives in an archive
Moon of Israel (1924) - Seems to have survived.
Red Heels (1925) - Seems to have survived.
------ Warner Brothers late silent, early sound era
Third Degree (1926) - Lost
A Million Bid (1927) - Incomplete print with Italian intertitles exists at LOC.
The Desired Woman (1927) - Seems to be lost.
Good Time Charley (1927) - Restored print at LOC, shown at Capitolfest in 2012.
Tenderloin (1928) - Silent with talking sequences, lost.
Noah's Ark (1928) - Silent with talking sequences, survives.
Glad Rag Doll (1929) - Vitaphone sound, lost. Only trailer survives.
Madonna of Avenue A (1929) - lost
The Gamblers (1929) - lost
Hearts in Exile (1929) - lost
Mammy (1930) Survives, on Warner Archive DVD-R
Under a Texas Moon (1930) - Survives - restored - in an archive.Everything else made past this date survives, although there is a copyright dispute with at least one title - "The Perfect Specimen" (1937).
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3 hours ago, kingrat said:
Monday daytime brings us a bunch of less than stellar Jane Fonda films, mostly before she emerged as, first, a political figure, and second, a capable dramatic actress. Sunday in New York with the handsome Rod Taylor is worth watching if you like the romantic comedies of that period. The Chapman Report is ghastly, but if you like campy bad movies, you might give it a try. Claire Bloom somehow gives a serious dramatic performance in this mess. I am unfamiliar with 1973's Steelyard Blues and might check that one out.
The evening has William Holden and many other stars in Executive Suite, a solid drama about the machinations for control after the unexpected death of the company's president.
"Sunday in New York" is definitely worth it for seeing the transition in sexual mores of the period. A fellow is fine with sleeping with every girl in New York, but "not with my sister you don't!" when she (Jane Fonda) becomes sexually curious. Somehow these 60 romantic comedies seem more dated to me in some ways than the precodes of the early 30s.
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I actually just bumped up three very old threads today to see how fast and furious the SPAM was coming in. I just posted one and it would be three pages of threads deep in SPAM.
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The wayback machine now spotlights the wit and wisdom of marcbeckuaf. Who suddenly departed these boards a few years back. Way before the spam.
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Bump. Old thread about Ben when he first came on the air. Something to read besides the spam.
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Bump. Reactions to when American Movie Classics became not so classic. The wayback machine.
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16 hours ago, Bogie56 said:
Sunday, April 1
10 a.m. The Bible: In the Beginning (1966). What on earth was John Huston thinking about? $$$$$ ? Well, at least there are no rock monsters in this one as in Darren Aronofsky's Noah (2014). Now that was one ****-up film.
I'd like to see Eddie Mueller give this one a Noir Alley send-up since it is on in his time slot. "A man with a predeliction for ribs falls for the wrong dame who gets him kicked out of paradise. His son Cain kills his other son Abel, yet gets 3rd billing over Abel's 12th billing. Generations later the family curse persists and his descendant is determined to build a giant boat made out of wood and let termites live on it. Two of them to be exact."
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They All Come Out (1939) MGM 7/10
This was on TCM for the first time in years the other day, and at first I was surprised at how much it seemed like a documentary - specifically one of the "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts MGM did. Actually, it started out that way and Louis Mayer liked it so much he asked that it be expanded into a feature film. Tom Neal stars as Joe Cameron, made an unemployable vagrant by a wounded hand that made him unfit for manual labor and with him not knowing a trade, on the road he went, often picked up by the police for not having a dollar. Hungry, he orders a big meal at a diner that he knows he can't pay for and is bailed out of his troubles by gun moll Kitty Carson (Rita Johnson). This is how he winds up entangled with Reno Madigan's gang, with the job of driving for them whenever they pull jobs.
At first they live it up, but they are eventually captured. But not before Reno and Joe hide 33K in stolen loot but do not tell the others about it. The rest of the film is about how the federal prison system treats each one of the gang - even operating on Joe's hand and teaching him a trade. The lesson seems to be that the feds know who is redeemable and who isn't, and if you're not it's off to "The Rock" - Alcatraz. Before their capture, Joe and Kitty seem to have an understated romance going, and during their imprisonment they are allowed to write letters where this romance seems to blossom. But against them when they get out is their record, local papers looking for sensational stories, and then there is still Reno inside prison expecting Joe to help spring him with the 33K they hid. And Reno has friends on the outside.
I doubt that the federal prison system was ever that good, and even if it was, I doubt a prison psychiatrist could just talk a seemingly crazy man out of believing he had women in his pockets and cure him with talk alone.
imdb currently rates this as a 6/10, but knowing its roots as a short/documentary, I'd give it a 7/10. The leads give real depth to their rather rushed performances, and it is an interesting tale.
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Holiday Camp (1947) 7/10
I really liked this film, because it gives you a real slice of life of post war Britain. The Huggett family goes off on vacation - or holiday as they say in Britain - to a camp that somewhat took me aback. Being paired up with a total stranger as a roommate in cramped quarters, communal eating, everything so organized and regimented with that constant voice yammering over the loudspeaker reminds me more of going to work in swimwear than of anything I would call a vacation. Rationing of certain candies that went on in Britain until ten years after the war, a young couple in love with a baby on the way with no practical way to get married, an eternally hopeful and tragically trusting woman looking for a man, and even a murderer on the run get thrown into this intriguing little film. And when Mr. and Mrs. Huggett manage a moment alone far from the madding crowd and she says that with all of these women so done up maybe she is getting a bit dowdy for him, what does Mr. Huggett say to boost her spirits? Something like "Always give me the plain ones inside the home"! And she finds that sweet and romantic??? My, the Brits did have low expectations after the war!
Still, very charming and well done and a great time capsule.
Source:TCM, this afternoon
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Girl Missing (1933) 7/10
Stars Glenda Farrell as Kay and Mary Brian as June, a couple of scheming gold diggers who eventually turn sleuth. Kay and June have gotten away from the chorus line in New York and are living it up in a posh Palm Beach hotel, but the price is leading on elderly wealthy Kenneth Van Deusen (Guy Kibbee), and hoping he will just continue to be led with no sexual payoff. He gets tired of the routine and leaves the girls owing a 700 hotel bill. Their solution is to find another wealthy guy, but this time the guy (Ben Lyon as Henry Gibson) is engaged. And he is engaged to somebody they both knew in the chorus line (Peggy Shannon as Daisy), but who snubs them by saying she doesn't know them. The girls have their problems solved when an old friend (Lyle Talbot as Raymond Fox) offers not only to pay their hotel bill but pay their train fare back to New York.
When Kay and June miss their train and have to stay an extra night, they hear on the radio the next morning that newlywed Daisy is a "girl missing". Gibson, her new husband, is offering 25000 as a reward for returning her, and Kay and June decide to stick around and solve the mystery. There is a car chase along a seacoast highway, a dead body found on a bench, and a note with a dagger through it saying "you are next".
This thing is pure rat a tat action and precode one liners , largely powered by brassy Glenda Farrell who really carries the weight of the energy of this thing. Kibbee is great in his small role as the frustrated wannabe lover. Edward Ellis is memorable as the very skeptical police inspector. Watch this one if you are in the mood for some precode goodness Warner Brothers style.
Source: Warner Archive DVD precode double feature
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3 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Is your hair orange?
I still don't know what you are talking about. But I have established two things. You are angry about something and you and I are not Trump fans. My cat's fur is orange though, so watch it.
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18 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
That statement is so out of touch with what has been going on, I'm going to pretend you spend all of your time watching studio era movies.
I don't know what you are talking about, but I do spend all of my (free) time watching studio era movies!
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The mods may take this down, but it's been on youtube since 2015. For you, DarkBlue. A tale of Men Going Their Own Way who just manage to get in each other's way.
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6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
FYI, it’s not a major major twist, but it is a rather surprising twist that happens at the half hour mark of NO QUESTIONS ASKED, Although from that point on the film really ratchets up the pacing and suspense. I liked it a lot.
Men! They are always stupid about women, but only in the movies do they learn their lesson! Yes this was a noir I don't recall seeing before and it had some great plot points. A crime boss who aspires to be able to hold his breath underwater for a record period of time? I won't talk about the plot point that people seem to think is a spoiler, but Joe Breen must have been busy cleaning out his office and getting ready to retire when this script came in for censorship approval. Then there is the reason that Arlene Dahl married the other guy in the first place - he was rich. If so then why??....I won't say, but I assume you know the final twist I am talking about. I never heard an explanation that made sense.
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28 minutes ago, Sepiatone said:
Odd. Personally, I never considered "Singing In The Rain" and "Top Hat" as comedies. maybe musicals with humorous moments in them, but not out and out comedies.
I've never seen EXIT SMILING, but I have seen(and read) ENTER LAUGHING and can attest to IT being hilarious.
But as I said earlier too, comedy is subjective, and what you find funny is all that should matter to you. That others might not think all on your list there are funny is to be expected, and really shouldn't matter much to you too.
Sepiatone
I thought about the musical aspect of these two, and for that matter "Gold Diggers of 1933" is in the same boat too. In the end, I figured I'd include them. "Exit Smiling" is a 1926 silent film starring Beatrice Lillie. She wasn't in very many films, but this was one of them. I like it because there is not truly a happy ending in it - so it is unique. But I mainly like it because Beatrice Lillie's expressions remind me of my mom when she was kidding around.
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37 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:
George Washington Slept Here (1942) - Domestic comedy from Warner Brothers and director William Keighley. Bill Fuller (Jack Benny) is stunned to learn that his wife Connie (Ann Sheridan) has bought a house out in the country. It's said that "George Washington slept there", but the place is a dump that's falling apart, with no running water or in-door bathroom. They set out to fix the place up with the help of local handyman Mr. Kimber (Percy Kilbride), although they'll have to deal with nasty neighbors and meddlesome relatives. Also featuring Charles Coburn, Hattie McDaniel, William Tracy, Joyce Reynolds, Lee Patrick, John Emery, Douglas Croft, Harvey Stephens, Franklin Pangborn, Charles Dingle, and Terry the dog.
Based on a hit play, this was Benny's first film under contract to Warners. Fans of his deadpan humor should enjoy this, as I did, although the film's appeal is greatly helped by the presence of Ann Sheridan, and both Percy Kilbride and Charles Coburn in humorous supporting turns. Terry the dog, better known for playing Toto, is also a scene-stealer. The movie earned an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction. (7/10)
Source: TCM.
There are some funny stories about this movie in Jack Benny's autobiography. He had to fight with Jack Warner over Percy Kilbride's role. Warner wanted to use one of their contract players for the part, but Benny insisted that Kilbride absolutely made the play and wanted him for the film. Benny won the argument obviously, but at some cost. Apparently Kilbride's antics and deadpan expression had Benny breaking out into laughter on the set, disrupting everything to the point that the director threatened to throw him off the set. So in any scenes with Benny in which Kilbride was around, Benny would stay up all night beforehand. He said he was so tired the days that they shot scenes together that he was too tired to laugh.
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The Life of the Party (1930) 7/10You could tell Winnie Lightner just loved to entertain, because she really steals the show in one of those early talkies that is not the least bit claustrophobic - there is plenty of movement, large sets, etc. This is a precode in which nothing really happens but plenty is implied, and it's fascinating to watch just from the film history angle plus it's a real hoot. The opening frame is Broadway as it appeared in 1930, and Jack Warner just has to plug everything Warner Brothers is doing in those first few frames. The neon signs advertise movies you've probably never heard of such as "Fifty Million Frenchmen", "The Song of the Flame", and "Courage". All three were made by Warner Brothers in 1930 and two of the three are as lost as the Technicolor version of this film. Next we meet song pluggers Flo (Winnie Lightner) and Dot (Irene Delroy). They are selling sheet music just a short time before the mass production of records would make their profession obsolete. Dot gets fired because she is too good looking - men are stopping to flirt not buy sheet music. Flo quits because they are a package deal.
Flo wants Dot to cash in on her good looks, but Dot loves Bob, a struggling clerk on Wall Street. Everything changes when Flo finds an item in the newspaper about Bob, age 23, marrying a wealthy widow aged 55. From this point forward Dot is willing to do things Flo's way and go for the gold in a man, right down to the fillings in his teeth. The two get a job in a high fashion shop owned by a guy who has a thing for Dot, take him for half the store in expensive dresses, and head off to Havana to look for a rich guy for Dot. Now it's never explained why they have to leave the country to look for a rich guy, nor how they got the money to get to Havana in the first place, but that's beside the point.
The rest of the film is a mad cap comedy of errors in which Flo mistakes a fellow fortune hunter for a recently rich inventor of a new soft drink, Dot has her moneyed mission somewhat derailed by her attraction to a good looking fellow who is staying at the same Havana hotel, and Charles Butterworth keeps showing up at inopportune times to interject some one-liners. Oh, and the guy who owned the fashion shop who Flo and Dot took for a ride in New York? He shows up at an inopportune time too.
Winnie Lightner is loud and busy - kind of like a flapper version of Glenda Farrell with a good singing voice, and that was her downfall. I think she could have transitioned easily to Warner's later fast-talking comedies, but she was too associated with the early musicals that became very unpopular by 1931 and also with the roaring 20's pre-Depression era to continue to go over big. Recommended for those who enjoy watching Warner Brothers and early talking pictures go through their growing pains and for those who like being transported back to a simpler time, when a woman with some meat on her bones was considered attractive and when a man would dress up in a tuxedo just based on the possibility that he might get lucky.Source: Capitolfest Dealer Room-
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Top comedians:
1. Buster Keaton
2. Marx Brothers
3. Charley Chase
4. W.C. Fields
From today - John Oliver. I know he is more of a satirist, but I just love his show and the fact that at 40 he still has a child-like mischief about him. I can't think of anybody making movies today who is that funny.
Top Ten Films ( I assume you are asking for comedies?)
1. The Princess Bride
2. The Working Man
3. Top Hat
4. Singin In the Rain
5. The Cameraman
6. The Lady Eve
7. Exit Smiling
8. Gold Diggers of 1933
9. It's Never Too Late
10. Raising Arizona
Above are not in order of which I like best, that would take awhile to figure out. However, I'd say number one is probably "Singin In the Rain".
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Just now, LawrenceA said:
The Kid Comes Back will be its 6th showing, the previous showing in 2002.
They All Come Out will be the 3rd showing, the previous in 1996!
Their Big Moment will be 2nd showing, the previous in 2006.
Thanks! Since I didn't start recording until 2007, I can safely say I don't have any of these!
TCM and Other Sources for Classic Film
in General Discussions
Posted
As a Texan transplanted to the DC suburbs, I salute this selection. Especially Giant. I can easily believe that two people - one from Texas and one from Maryland - who hastily married would soon find themselves at odds over a great number of topics.