Arturo
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Posts posted by Arturo
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I remember watching HOLD THAT GHOST on the SUPERSTATION in the eighties when I was a kid and totally not getting what on earth Joan Davis meant about her stolen "mules." My father explained to me that mule was an outdated term for slipper.
Ever since, I have referred to my slippers as mules, confusing all sorts of people and making myself seem about 40 years older than I am.
It's a cute movie, kind of obviously some stitched-together routines and a strange ending- but fun. I don't know when the last time I saw it was (it might have been that one and only time from my childhood) but I was surprised at the things I recalled, even the line "does mooses have tonsils?"- which I remembered RIGHT, and I NEVER remember ANYTHING right!
TCM has been really good about showing ABBOTT AND COSTELLO, ....MEET FRANKENSTEIN and THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES were both on recentlyish...I was very intrigued by THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES and would like to see it again very much- it's actually kind of a dark film, and the two leads barely interract (they were in a terrible feud at the time)- but it's very interesting, a good companion film to ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY/THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER.
HOLD THAT GHOST was always one of my favorites, along with the later ones when A&C got a second wind, as Universal got the idea to meld them with with their monster franchises.
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ASTAWAY
In which our intrepid pooch takes a cruise with Nick and Nora Charles. One night, while the Charles are getting smashed as they barhop from one shipboard watering hole to another, and trading barbed digs at each other, Asta wanders the decks of the ship. A sudden wave washes him over. He spends a frightful night paddling around aimlessly in the dark. In the morning, he awakens to find himself washed up on a beach of a deserted tropical island. Asta sets about looking for his masters (or in his mind, servants), but soon realizes the futility of this.
Asta decides to make the best of it, and tries to adapt. He fashions a dog house out of palm fronds, and learns to like breadfruit, bananas, coconuts and other tropical fruit. He learns to fish, and masters this in the protected lagoon. His early frustation in not finding any fire hydrants is soon mitigated by the plentiful trunks of coconut palms as a substitute. He soon found himself marking his territory all over the island, effectively claiming it for himself. Soon, he befriends a feral female pig, and together they enjoy each other's company as they have the run of the island.
Unfortunately, paradise is lost when a search vessel finds him, and returns him to Nick and Nora. They are relieved to have Asta back, if not repentant of their drinking habits, as they go out that night to celebrate Asta's return.
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I too enjoyed Abbott and Costello when I was growing up. It aas good to see a night of their films, although silly, still enjoyable. Thanks TCM. Let's have more Universal films in general.
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A couple of Susan Hayward films will be on in the next couple of days,.although not on TCM:
For those who missed it, TULSA (1949) will be on Encore Westerns on Saturday, 9/19 @ 4:30 am, and Tuesday, 9/22 @ 6:15 am.
HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949) will be on FMC on Sunday, 9/20 @ 11:30 am est, and Monday, 9/21 @ 9 am est.
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Asta was on top of his game
Once THE THIN MAN established his name
A gregarious pooch
As his owners drank hooch
He'd hump Powell's or Loy's legs the same
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On FMC (all times eastern):
Friday, 9/18:
3 am: THE REWARD (1965).....................4:35 am: TAILSPIN (1939).....................6 am: HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS (1959)........................7:45 am: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1939)........................ 9 am: am: PRINCE OF FOXES (1949).................................11 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947)..............................1:25 pm: THE REWARD (1965)................
Saturday, 9/19:
3 am: PIN UP GIRL (1944).........................4:25 am: THREE LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE (1946).........................6 am: THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW (1958)..............................8 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947).........................10:30 am: THAT WONDERFUL URGE (1948).............................12 pm: THREE LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE (1946)..............................1:35 pm: PIN UP GIRL (1944).....................
Sunday, 9/20:
6 am: LLOYDS OF LONDON (1936).........................8 am: 8 am: THIS IS MY AFFAIR (1937)...........................9:45 am: NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY (1951)..........................11:30 am: HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949)...................
Monday, 9/21:
3:30 am: TALES OF MANHATTAN (1942)..........................6 am: CLAUDIA AND DAVID (1946)..........................7:20am: NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY (1951)...........................9 am: HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949)............................10:45 am: CALL OF THE WILD (1935)............................12:10 pm: THE SECRET OF CONVICT OAKE (1951).........................1:35 pm: SIERRA BARON (1958).............
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Asta for a month is great choice
Despite his lack of a voice
Next to Tor he ain't tall
[..]
The envy of most men and boys-
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TCM's salute to Susan Hayward continues tonight, starting off with two epics. The first, DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS, is the biblical.sequel to the first Cinemascope film, THE ROBE. The second, THE CONQUEROR, is the ill-fated epic of the Mongol empire, with miscasting of some of the main roles, and tragic results decades later due to some atomic testing in the Nevada desert during the filming.
These two are followed by two tour-de-force dramas, I'LL CRY TOMORROW, and I WANT TO LIVE! Susan would receive her fourth and fifth nominations for these, winning for the.latter.
In between, she did a comedy with Kirk Douglas, TOP-SECRET AFFAIR; neither star was known for having a light touch. They were used byWB to replace the roles originally envisioned for Bogart and Bacall, but Bogie was too sick when production was about to start.
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I believe it was Asta/Skippy who had a decent sized role in DAYTIME WIFE, the 1939 screwball starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Warren William and Binnie Barnes.Are you kidding me?!
Asta appeared in these features:
1939Another Thin Man Asta
'Mr. Atlas' - Dog (as Skippy)
1938Bringing Up Baby
George the dog (uncredited)
1937The Awful Truth
Mr. Smith (uncredited)
1937Sea Racketeers
Skipper (as Skippy)
Dog (uncredited)
Skippy (uncredited)
Pom Pom (as Skippy)
1934Midnight Alibi
Skippy (uncredited)
1934The Thin Man Asta (uncredited)
Terrier at Dog Show (uncredited)
Even though he had to go uncredited through many features. Asta kept his chipper attitude with the movie bosses.
Edit. Btw, TCM has aired this at least once,.during Linda Darnell's SUTS day in 2011. So, in theory, TCM could get it for the Asta SOTM.
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Two very good films.featuring James Mason imo, will be shown on FMC in the next few days:
Saturday, 5/23 @ 9 am.est:
BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956): Mason produced this story of a schoolteacher becoming addicted to cortizone.
Monday, 5/25 @ 1:10 pm:
FIVE FINGERS (1951): Espionage and intrigue based on a true story. With the gorgeous Danielle Darrieux, in a rare venture doing a Hollywood film.
Both of these films will be on FMC in the next few days. I will post later the exact schedules.
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I bought a recent book last year, about the many outstanding movies of that exceptional year,1939. Among the many acknowledged classics, they also selected FIVE CAME BACK, a popular film often shown on TCM. This B film, is relatively unheralded, although its stature has grown in recent years. I also bought a similar book back in 1989, in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of these films. No FIVE CAME BACK in sight, and in fact, it paid short shrift to many acknowledged film classics. The more recent book is much more inclusive.
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On FMC (all times eastern):
Tuesday, 9/15:
3 am: MOTHER IS A FRESHMAN (1949)........................ 4:30 am: HALF-ANGEL (1951).........................6 am: BRIGHAM YOUNG (1940).....................7:55 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947)............................. 10:20 am: DREAMBOAT (1952)..........................11:45 am: BOBBIKINS (1959)........................1:15 pm: THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW (1958)...........................
Wednesday, 9/16:
3 am: BLUE DENIM (1959).........................4:35 am: DREAMBOAT (1952)............................6 am: SANDCASTLES (1972)...........................7:15 am: CLAUDIA AND DAVID (1946)...........................8:35 am: BOBBIKINS (1959).........................10:05 am: APRIL LOVE (1957)........................LUE DENIM (1956)..........
..11:50 am: TEENAGE REBEL (1956)...............................1:25 pm: BLUE DENIM (1959).............
Thursday, 9/17:
3 am: TEENAGE REBEL (1956)........................4:40 am: SANDCASTLES (1972)............................6 am: APRIL LOVE (1957).......................8 am: TAILSPIN (1939)..........................9:30 am: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1939)............................11 am: PRINCE OF FOXES (1949).....................1 pm: HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS (1959)...............
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Indeed, the studio system often did this, pairing promising newcomers with established stars. But it was not always the case. In the post-war period, Power was.costarred with Gene Tierney (at the height of her career) and Anne Baxter in THE RAZOR'S EDGE, Tierney in THAT WONDERFUL URGE,.and Baxter in LUCK OF THE IRISH. So costarring him with big names was employed as often as.not. And the relative.newcomers used, such as Hendrix and and Aubrey, especially, were hindrances in PRINCE OF FOXES and BLACK ROSE, respectively. Imagine Gene Tierney in POF, or Jean Peters, now more established in THE BLACK ROSE. In the case of Wanda Hendrix, Power.had wanted her, in fact, for THAT WONDERFUL.URGE, but the studio felt she had no boxoffice pull. They did relent for POF; paradoxically, the big budget adventure films seemed.to have theae newcomers, as Fox must have felt they had a ready-built.audience among Power fans.Like I have said before casting decisions in the studio-system were mostly made to benefit the bottom line (current or future). Power was a big enough draw that he didn't need to be paired with an established leading lady. So of course pair him with an up and coming starlet as a way to promote that starlet and increase their value to the studio.
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It IS a shame, imho, that Darnell and Power were never reteamed after the war, when her by then mature persona would.have worked well wifh him. As much as I like Jean Peters, and I like her in CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE, I agree Linda would have been more effective in this. In fact, Zanuck had pegged her for the role a couple of years before filming began, as he thought the barefoot gypsy Catana was reminiscent of her 1944 breakthrough role as a femme.fatale in SUMMER STORM. Prior to Power coming back from.the war, and being cast in this, the studio had announced.Cornel.Wilde for the male lead.It's a shame that Linda didn't get cast in Captain from Castile. Nothing against Jean Peters (who's quite good in the film), but Darnell and Ty Power always played well off one another. They had extraordinary chemistry in The Mark of Zorro.
But it seems to me that during the post war '40s Fox was frequently co-starring Power with up and coming starlets in a number of his films (Wanda Hendrix, Colleen Gray come to mind, as well as Jean Peters). Actually, Gray's casting in Nightmare Alley works, I feel, because the role requires a young fresh innocent in the part. But that was not really a requirement for the role of Catana Perez in CFC. Darnell could have been perfect in the role.
Darnell had matured as an actress on screen. In Zorro she had been the incarnation of virginal innocence, played with great charm by the lady. Quite the contrast, eh, to her tarnished, cynical transformation as a sultry mantrap in a film like Fallen Angel, for example. The part of Catana could have been interesting for Darnell as she could have the best of both worlds as an actress. She could have looked hot and sultry but still, essentially, have been playing a good hearted soul.
Additionally, CFC could have been important for Linda, in that she would have had another quick sexy role following FOREVER AMBER, and the impact of this might have made.her a superstar. Instead, it was almost a year later that she appeared in her next film, the interesting, if static, costume melodrama THE WALLS OF JERICHO, which received mediocre reviews followed by mediocre returns.
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Unless I'm mistaken, I saw part of MY FOOLISH HEART about 5-10 years ago. So it had to be on either TCM or FMC, probably FMC if it was a Fox film.
I'm almost sure TCM has shown it in the last few years (it's not a Fox film). I have it on dvd, which means I recorded it after June 2011, when I bought the dvd recorder, most likely from TCM.
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ps- as lovely a title as MY FOOLISH HEART (and the accompanying jazz-standard theme song) is, part of me really wishes they had kept the name UNCLE WIGGLEY IN CONNECTICUT.
PSS- Susan's costar in FOOLISH HEART is DANA ANDREWS, I would have loved to have seen them play off one another, especially as this was during a really interesting stretch for Andrews where he was hitting his stride as a natural, low-key (but very effective) actor.
I don't know if MY FOOLISH HEART is scheduled to play during Susan's SOTM, but TCM has aired it before. If it doesn't show this month, it's a shame that it could have been, and maybe like you suggest, be as part of a night of all her nominated performances.
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On Tuesday 9/15 @ 6 am est, FMC will repeat BRIGHAM YOUNG (1940), Darnell's first western, and her second film with Power, in this epic telling of the Mormon Trek.
But the day before, on Monday, 9/14, @ 3:30 am est, and.later @ 12:40 pm est, FMC will air Linda's most important film.at.the time, the botched epic FOREVER AMBER (1947). The long, troubled filming of the salacious bestseller has tainted the film as a critical and financial failure. However, it was a top grosser when it came out, and it has much to recommend it, including the cinematography, sets, costumes, score, and even the direction and some.of the performances. Costarring Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene.and George Sanders.
It's been awhile since I have seen it listed on FMC, so I am excited about this. Now if only TCM can get a copy of this, and air it as.an integral part of a Darnell SOTM. Hey, if Susan Hayward can be chosen, there's no reason why Linda can't be also.
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Just a.reminder.that.early Monday morning, and later in the day, FMC will show the biggest film.of Linda Darnell's career, FOREVER AMBER, if not her most acclaimed role or best acting opportunity. At the time she was cast, however, she and the rest of Hollywood felt it was a coup for her. Unfortunately, the watered down script and heavy handed censorship resulted in a mixed reception, both for Linda and the film.
Just before the second showing of AMBER, FMC will.be showing another Fox Technicolor epic from 1947, CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE. Originally, Linda was cast to play in this film, as the barefoot Spanish gypsy Catana, a role which would have suited her perfectly. Even when she was assigned to take over the role of Amber from Peggy Cummins, it appeared Linda would still do CFC afterwards. However, the new director on FOREVER AMBER, Otto Preminger, ordered a rewrite of the script, thereby delaying the resumption of production by some three months. Linda bitterly accepted the reality that she could not do CFC, which would have reteamed her with Tyrone Power, and newcomer Jean Peters got the plum assignment.
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Tom, what a great write-up,.as.always. I wish more of these films were available on TCM. It would be awesome to feature one each Saturday morning, say after the the serials and series films they show; it would make it feel even more like the old Saturday matinees.I just viewed for the first time in years BAGDAD (1949).
This was Maureen O'Hara's first Technicolor adventure of the decidedly unsophisticated school made for Universal International. The film has stunning colour and, as with the other films of this nature, is a constant visual pleasure to compensate for the banal story line and often grade school dialogue.
The plot has O'Hara as an English educated Bedouin princess who returns to Bagdad for the first time in years to find that her father has been murdered by the "Black Robes." She sets out to find the leader of the band of cutthroats to get justice for her father and to . . . Oh, what the heck, do we really care about the story line anyway?
Her leading man is Errol Flynn-handsome but bland and forgettable Paul Christian, all the easier for Miss O'Hara to shine against. Vincent Price plays the Turkish pasha in charge of Bagdad, and you could say that when dealing with this kind of silly material, Vinny wasn't going to give one of his more subtle performances. He spends the entire film with one eye closed, almost like a permanent wink at the audience.
O'Hara has three song numbers in this film and, assuming that the voice we hear really is the lady's (I know she liked to sing and later sold an album or two of her Irish songs) she had a clear, strong singing voice, and was really quite impressive. That is particularly the case in the first of her numbers, sung in a café, a number called, appropriately, "Bagdad."
I like O'Hara for never seeming to look down on the material that she's handed as she plays her ridiculous role. She was carrying on the tradition of Maria Montez at the same studio, of course, Montez having departed for Europe by the time that this production was made.
The musical score of Bagdad, heard under the opening titles, is, in fact, Frank Skinner's original score for Arabian Nights, the first of the Montez epics filmed seven years before.
O'Hara was, of course, a vastly superior actress to Montez. However, Montez's exotic look and halting English delivery somehow made her seem like perfect casting in these kind of cheesy "epics." When Montez did it for a few years (with Jon Hall as co-star) there was an endearing quality about the productions. Like Bagdad, they were silly but handsomely pleasing in lush Technicolor.
But it wasn't always just "B" stars that appeared in these Arabian Nights fantasies. Do you remember when Marlene Dietrich, looking a little long in the tooth for this kind of stuff, had her legs painted gold and did an "erotic" dance in MGM's lavish Kismet?
Curious how a big "A" production like that, complete with major stars like Dietrich and Ronald Colman, didn't somehow quite work as an entertainment. Yet smaller (but handsome) productions like the Montez or O'Hara films, grade school as they were in sophistication, stand up today as rather more fun.
Just one minor quibble, which happens to be a pet peeve of mine. I would not consider these films "B" films, but programmers, "A" films typically on the lower A budget range, with little pretensions. And likewise, Maureen O'Hara, Maria Montez, and Yvonne De Carlo were not stars of "B" films, but of "A" films, whether programmers or not. "B" film stars that did do these films,.such as Adele.Jergens and Evelyn Keyes, were featured on A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, although this was not a "B".
Another example.of an unequivocably "A" star in one of these fanatasies, is Merle Oberon in A NIGHT IN PARADISE, made during a mulit-pic deal at Universal, and by all rights should have gone to one of that studio's resident exotics, Montez or De Carlo. I think that KISMET was a spoof of the genre that didn't quite work, possibly due to the rather absurd casting.
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On FMC (all times eastern):
Saturday, 9/12:
3 am: WABASH AVENUE (1950)..........................1:35 am: THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE (1953)............................. 6 am: ON THE SUNNY SIDE (1942)...........................7:15 am: THE BEAUTIFUL BLONDE FROM BASHFUL BEND (2949).........................................8:35 am: THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW =1958)...............................10:20 am: THE SECRET OF CONVICT LAKE (1951)....................................11:45 am: SIERRA BARON (1958).........................................1:15 pm: WHITE FEATHER =1955)............................
Sunday, 9/13:
3 am: THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW (1958)..........................4:45 am: ON THE SUNNY SIDE (1942)...........................6 am: SIERRA BARON (1958)...............................7:30 am: WHITE FEATHER (1955)..........................9:15 am: SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES (1939).............................10:40 am: THE GAY DECEPTION =1935)..................................12 pm: TAILSPIN (1939)...............................1:30 pm: PIN UP GIRL (1944)............
Monday, 9/14:
3:30 am: FOREVER AMBER (1947).................................6 am: SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES (1939)...................................7:20 am: THE GAY DECEPTION (1935)...................................8:45 am: PIN UP GIRL (1944).....................................10:15 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947).......................12:40 pm: FOREVER AMBER (1947)...................
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If I recall correctly, Susan had one of her early leads in DEADLINE AT DAWN 194? which was written by Clifford Odets. I wonder if her work in that and WHOLSESALE lead to any trouble for her in the early fifties.
Also- am I right about this?- she was also in MY FOOLISH HEART (1949)- which was based on a story by JD Salinger.
DAD.was.from.1946.. And yes, Susan.was.in MY FOOLISH HEART, from.a.Salinger.story. She received.her second.Oscar.nomination for this wartime.romance.with Dana Andrews.
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I presume this movie has no connection to the musical starring Elliott Gould and featuring Gould's future wife (and future ex-wife) Barbra Streisand as Miss Marmelstein.
Botht the film.and the stage musical.are based on the novel of the same name. Incidentally, I believe that for.early TV.broadcasts,.the film.went.by the name.ONLY THE BEST (if I remember correctly).
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Tonight TCM will have a Susan Hayward bonus, 1952's THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (as part of a mini-tribute to Ernest Hemingway?). Anyway,.the film.fits into the time frame of last night's Hayward films, and was from the same studio as the majority of them, 20th Century Fox.
Filmed after WITH A SONG IN MY HEART,.which established her as Fox' biggest moneymaker (Marilyn Monroe would usurp her shortly), Susan looked forward.to this prestigious assignment. However, she would be unhappy with the way things worked out. The studio decided to replace the previously cast Anne Francis, in the role of big-game.hunter Gregory Peck's first wife Cynthia, since he was supposed.to twice mistake Susan's character for her. Anne didn't look sufficiently like.Susan, so was replaced.by Ava Gardner, borrowed from MGM. Ava's part was increased, and apparently much of Hayward's role was cut, to accommodate this.
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Did the male hustler steal the scion's cell phone?
No, just a piece of his heart. But Spacey's character gave him watches, cell phones, cuff links, etc. I believe the guy wanted.more money, and was about to expose him if he didn't kick in with blackmail money. In the trial, the scion was exonerated, and judged self-defense.
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I think its somewhat ironic that Richard Widmark got his only Oscar nomination for the Tommy Udo character in KISS OF DEATH. While that character made quite a strong impression at the time (and still does to this day) I feel Widmark gave better, more interesting , performances in many of his later films. "Udo" was so one dimensional a character, Widmark would play characters of much greater depth. His gangster in THE STREET WITH NO NAME, for example. An intellectual criminal, he's leader of a gang, but he has trouble controlling the gang. He couldn't relate to these "street toughs" , physically he couldn't intimidate or boss them around. So he takes out his frustrations on his wife. When a new guy joins the gang (who's an undercover cop) Widmark is glad to have a pal he can relate to. When his "pal" betrays him (very much like O'Brien does to Cagney in WHITE HEAT) Widmark flips out at the end. I like Widmark in ROAD HOUSE a lot too. For the first half of that story he is a regular , easy going guy. But when the girl he loves ( Ida Lupino) shuns him for buddy Cornel Wilde, Widmark again shifts into "Tommy Udo" mode, then , look out. Of course these early roles were created to build on the studio's villain image for Richard Widmark . An image that he didn't want to completely define him as an actor.
I think Widmark.should have been nominated.for.perhaps.the last of his evil characters, Ray Biddle in NO WAY OUT. His harrowing performance.in this searing racial.drama is worthy of a nomination, as are Linda Darnell's and Sidney Poitier's. After this role, Widmark never wanted to play someone this evil again.
Where is the "Upcoming Classic 20th Century Fox films" thread?
in General Discussions
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I too like LLOYDS OF LONDON's ending, as well as.the rest of the film. Two more films starring Tyrone Power, directed by Henry King, on FMC: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE and PRINCE OF FOXES.