[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

they have alienated all the older original fans many whom they will never get back.

 

Aa, they're all gonna croak of old age soon anyway so what's the difference.

[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

I guess I will say that Wiliam Shatner owns the role of T.J. Hooker. 

 

Was that the guy who was always grabbing rides on car hoods?

[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

Yep Speedy, I too was about to reply to ND about his "Shatner fixation" he seems to be having with himself here, and ESPECIALLY in regard to his previous comment of, "...and that is why the star trek legacy lies in ruins today!".

 

(...and thus "transporting" his thought that this franchise "lies in ruins today" to a planet where FACTS are of no consequence!)  

 

I'm sure he was speaking about 'Star Trek' on TV.

 

Boy, that picture of Shatner there has one wondering what the girdle must've been made from. Cold-rolled steel?

[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

I also can't imagine anyone else as Norman Bates other than Anthony Perkins.  Vince Vaughn could not even begin to compete with Perkins' portrayal.

 

Perfect example!!

 

Perkins will always be THE Norman Bates, no matter who else plays the role. In fact, I think this may be the best example of an actor owning a role yet mentioned.

[MeTV has new schedule and is NOT cutting in on TCM]

There's no excuse for a dvd distributor like Shout to be pawning off partial episodes like what's done for syndication (to allow for more commercials).

 

I had no idea Shout did stuff like that.

[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

I think one could argue with credibility that Yul Brynner owns the role of The King.

[Stars Who "Own" Their Role]

I think it's safe to say that Boris Karloff "owns" the role of the Frankenstein Monster. He brought a child like simplicity (as least in the first two films) and anguish to the role. As an outsider from society (to put it mildly) Karloff's Monster made us feel his character's loneliness and, therefore, understand his resultant anti-social behaviour (if I can put killings that way).

 

While many actors have played the role since, and he only actually played the part twice in his film career, Bela Lugosi owns the part of Count Dracula, in my opinion (apologies to Christopher Lee fans).

 

I was gonna "like" this post until I got to the second paragraph.

 

Boris is definitely the best Frankenstein monster ever, in my opinion.

 

However, Bela - for all his iconic imagery in the role - is not necessarily the "best". Lee is more bracing and Oldman was by far the most interesting. It's difficult to choose - the part has been played by so many - but, gun to my head - I'd probably give the award to Max Schreck.

[What is the greatest classic movie performance?]

I've always thought Vivien Leigh for Gone With the Wind. It was a huge part in a greatly anticipated film. She was a 26 year old Brit who was basically unknown in America and chose to tackle the part. I think she acquits herself quite wonderfully.

 

She's fantastic as Blanche Dubois. I consider that to be her crowning achievement as an actor.

[What is the greatest classic movie performance?]

I really like Lon Chaney Jr's performance as Lenny Small in Milestone's 'Of Mice and Men' (1939). In my opinion he owns that role (as no one else has been able to improve on that performance - again in my opinion).

 

Actors who "own" roles might make for a highly discussable thread of its own. Another who meets the criteria would be Brando as Stanley Kowalski.

 

Chaney as Lenny; Brando as Stanley - it's not easy to improve upon perfect.

[Donna Douglas (1932-2015)]

So, when I was 12, I had this huge crush on her - just like most of the guys in school who watched the Hillbillies every week.

 

Does anyone remember the rumour from around 1963 or so that she had lost her legs to a shark attack? I was horrified at the time - really broken hearted. Turned out to be untrue, of course - but it was temporarily devastating "news" to me at that time.

[Other low rent Movie channels]

Hmmmm...interesting.

 

Ya see, while I didn't see any of these "classics" this morning, after turning on my TV just now and hitting the "Guide" button and then going backward to check out what "classics" had been shown this morning and that I had missed watching, I noticed that Suddenlink, my cable provider, showed that all those "classics" as only being worthy of being rated as having either "one star", "one and a half stars" and/or "two stars" in "quality".

 

Hmmmm...yeah. "Funny" how some so-called "classics" can "rate" so low sometimes, ain't it?!)

 

(...smirk)

 

Thant's my problem exactly with all the so-called "classic" movies TCM shows from the studio age - 98 percent of them are such lousy to mediocre movies.

[THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS]

It's visitors Jack and Sandy versus the New York of the early 70's.

 

A terrific movie - Sandy is very funny. You'll be hearing her voice saying "oh, my God" for hours afterward.

[MeTV has new schedule and is NOT cutting in on TCM]

MeTV is NOT cutting in on TCM

 

No more or less than every other channel that a viewer watches when they're not watching TCM.

 

I guess that would mean that when someone is watching TCM, TCM is not cutting into MeTV any more or less than any other channel would be.

 

I always said that that other thread's proclamation was idiotic - and time hasn't made it any less so.

[MeTV has new schedule and is NOT cutting in on TCM]

I no pretend, me know. my first 15 years as a space cadet in front of the idiot box makes it so

 

You can't know what every idiot is watching just by what one idiot watches.

[Today's topic]

Thanks for the suggestions Fred. I agree that an occasional index would be helpful.

 

Here are the topics for the coming week:

 

Wednesday December 31st: A recommended article 

Sharing an old Saturday Evening Post essay on THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE

 

Thursday January 1st: Q & A with Miranda Summerfield

Miranda is a character from MGM's classic motion picture THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA. She is also a very active member at the Virginia Weidler Remembrance Society. Ginnyfan has made it possible for me to interview Miranda. You are going to love reading this!

 

Friday January 2nd: Who turns 100 in 2015?

A listing of on-camera and off-camera talent from the studio era whose hundredth birthdays occur in the new year.

 

Saturday January 3rd: Life is a Lubitsch, then you die

An appreciation of Ernst Lubitsch's masterpiece HEAVEN CAN WAIT.

 

Sunday January 4th: When screen time is real time

Using HIGH NOON and a few other titles to discuss movies where the time that elapses on screen is synchronized with real viewing time. Not many filmmakers have been able to do this successfully.

 

Monday January 5th: Movie star autographs

A photo essay of celebrity signatures. And a chance to mention the business of buying and selling autographed pictures.

 

Tuesday January 6th: One scene wonders

A look at character actress Mary Gordon and character actor Franklin Pangborn who often had just one tiny but memorable scene in a movie.

 

Wow, this thread should last the rest of your life, and get like a million posts. It'll probably end up being the greatest thread ever.

[Who has the best voice...?]

Bobcat Goldthwait.

[Today's topic]

Re: MOVIES THAT SELL OUT IN THE END

 

'Red River' (1948)

 

Why do I get the feeling that Wayne probably insisted on that ending - over a far more dramatic and plausible one?

 

I can just hear him bellowing "I'm not gonna be the bad guy at the end, g--dammit!"

[Are You Wearing THAT In Public???!!!]

...and Jerry Lee Lewis didn't waste any time.

 

I understand those southern folk (mountain folk too) have traditions of very youthful couplings. I've heard it said that past the age of 16 an unmarried "girl" is worried over in some communities.

[Today's topic]

My problem with Mr. Smith was that it was nothing but pure fantasy in terms of its cornball resolution

 

You mean that crooks and bad guys don't actually dissolve into tearful guilt-ridden sobbers all of a sudden in real life?

 

I'm pretty sure if the movie had had a realistic ending - Smith carried out followed by business as usual in the Senate - the movie would not have been allowed to be seen.

[Are You Wearing THAT In Public???!!!]

Birth control from age TWELVE??? How precocious are the children in your community?

 

Don't be naive.

 

12 is the age, generally speaking, where children begin to transform into adolescents. By 13, most are capable of reproduction.

[Off Topic: Favorite Music?]

 

[Are You Wearing THAT In Public???!!!]

I'm gonna write to Bjork and ask where I can get one of those Swan dresses for my lady friend - it's fabulous!

[DON'T BE SO PICKY!]

I have to admit that while I know it's "fashionable" to pick Mary Ann over Ginger because of the former being more the nice girl-next-door down-to-earth type, I have to admit that I always thought Ginger was MUCH hotter than Mary Ann

 

Tina sure was hot in 'God's Little Acre'.

 

But, yeah - beware of redheads.

[DON'T BE SO PICKY!]

I think you're right.

 

Is this a fedora?

 

I think that's a sombrero.

[Are You Wearing THAT In Public???!!!]

There aren't too many homeless studs anyway.

 

I don't know to what exactly you're referring by "studs", but there are many good-looking homeless men. You just have to clean them up a little to realize it.