JackFavell

MissG- I found some not so good pics of Tom and posted them over at the silent film gallery. Don't want to interrupt, so y'all go on with yer gopher stew while I get back to makin' some possum fritters......

Marie Dressler Day!

I have to agree that the programming for Kay was super special! and I didn't even like Kay Francis when her month started..... For your consideration: Best One Day Event:

The Marie Dressler bonus check incident is a sad story. I'm inclined to think it is true. However, Ms. Lee's book also showed Marie Dressler in an unflattering light - basically calling Ms. Dressler a liar, or at the very least an embroiderer of the truth. The main source of most of the information in the book was Claire Dubrey. Ms. Dubrey was an intimate friend of Dressler's for years, but was disgruntled when the friendship ended on a bad note, and she was dismissed by Dressler. It was portrayed as unfair and willful mean-spiritedess on Ms. Dressler's part, though perhaps the rift was caused by Dressler's illness and pain. Dubrey was a fairly innocent party according to the Lee biography, but the biography depended almost entirely on information from Ms. Dubrey. At the time of the bonus check incident, Ms. Dubrey was not living with Dressler anymore, and I believe had gleaned the information from Mamie Cox, a maid and helper to Ms. Dressler at this time. Now, Claire Dubrey may have had fond feelings for Marie Dressler even after their bitter parting, and she may have been a reliable source, but again, I get skeptical when there is only one viewpoint covered in a biography. I would love to read the other biography by Matthew Kennedy, to see if his conclusions were the same as Betty Lee's. Message was edited by: JackFavell

Thanks, MissG! I had read that review as well, but I wasn't as resourceful as you were....it's great that it was shown at Cinecon - however, I am disappointed that there is no dvd.....or any copy for sale in any format.... I imagine there is a copy at the Library of Congress, or maybe at the Museum of the Moving Image. I will continue to search for more Tom Santschi info and movies, though.... I just found these pictures at the website for the Museum of the Moving Image..... http://collection.movingimage.us/viewers/index.php?representation_id=4006&version=tilepic&width=1000&height=650 http://collection.movingimage.us/viewers/index.php?representation_id=4007&version=tilepic&width=1000&height=650

Though I respect the opinions voiced here, and agree in some part with many of the people who have written responses, I would nevertheless like to see some informed opinions from people who have actually seen the movie.....

I agree that the TCM remembers is a thoughtful, well made and reverent compilation. The only other end of year honor role that I watch is on CBS Sunday Morning.... they usually do a fine job, but include folks from other areas of the arts, and world leaders and such.....

I agree that Tom might have been forced to play the villain moe often than not, had he lived. But perhaps an old pal with the nickname of "Bull" might have had a role set aside for our Tom to play once talkies had become established. I think he would have made a wonderful addition to Pappy's stock company..... Sadly, We have probably seen Tom's quintessential performance (They say it is his role in The Spoilers, but we know better). Bull is the role that captures his immense talent and his ability to show thought and feeling on screen the best. I am just glad he got the chance to play this most fascinating character. And we saw it first, which makes any other performance pale in comparison.

MissG- Just awesome, AWESOME screen caps! I am so excited to see these pictures and the movies they came from! I actually really like William S. Hart, he has a sort of stoic, honourable quality that is very pleasant. However, his acting could be very old school, rather Victorian and stodgy at it's worst. When placed next to our Tom, he must have looked quite stilted. As I was scrolling up through the caps from Cradle of Courage, I thought, "Wow. Tom looks JUST like Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy".... It must be the hat..... and the eyes of course..... FF - I have never seen such beautiful caps from The Wizard before-- they are so crystal clear it's amazing! Beautiful.... Never nominated or celebrated, never given lead roles in front-rank pictures, Jack Carson could be stupid, vacant, coarse, vain, amiable, decent, touching, nasty, hateful...even ordinary. Somehow one doubts that he ever got, or needed, much direction. Instead he understood story and character. He was cast and he was relied on, and let us say that one in ten times he was indelible... Apart from that, he was only perfect.." Whoever wrote this is so right. Personally, I like him as Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.... a movie I don't really like much. Without even trying, Carson just plays the heck out of that part... and is a breathe of fresh air while those around him are "ACTING" all over the place. He just "is" Gooper. He brings the same easy style to every role, but what he did was not easy. And in The Strawberry Blonde, The Male Animal, and Mildred Pierce, he is perfection. Jack Carson can do no wrong. He is one of those wonderful character actors who show up at just the right time in a movie to make you laugh. Message was edited by: JackFavell

Ohh, that's sad. I know LAhr is not forgotten by the millions who have grown up watching him as the beloved CL.....

*35* (This picture is from metsfan on the Pre-code thread....)

I think I'v eseen The Far Country- I was trying to remember the title but got sidetracked looking up the Stewart box set.....

I just looked it up on Amazon (I think) and it was .... $25.71? Seemed like a good deal....but might be cheaper somewhere else.

AAAAAAAAHHHHH!

I am so glad you got your Jimmy box set, Kathy! Let us know all about it... I have only seen Destry Rides Again and Winchester 73 both of which I liked veyr much. I read reviews of Bend of the River that said it was great....I'm so excited for you! I got Schoolhouse Rock for Alice when she was five and she watched it once or twice and promptly forgot about it.... I should get it out again now that she is doing multiplication and such.... My dad got me the Mozart because he knows I love the music.... Mozart is the one classical composer that I can listen to any time, anywhere. But, boy, I was really looking forward to some movies... he probably got the cd's instead as a gentle hint to STOP watching TV so much......

Oh my gosh, Metsie! Tell me, could Robert Montgomery and Joan Crawford be any younger or more beautiful in the still from Untamed? How unbelievably gorgeous.... I also think you should post that picture from Outside the Law in the Photo Caption thread....

faceinthecrowd- I agree about Carson - he is another of those actors who gets the job done, without fanfare. He can play funny or dramatic. I really am a fan. Dennis Morgan is one of maybe two or three "boy" singers that I can stand to listen to. My introduction to the type was Kenny Baker in At the Circus. I thought he was awful. But Morgan just oozes charm and good humor, and his voice is so good that I really enjoy him as a singer as well as in acting roles. Dick Powell is the only other one I can think of who had the acting chops and the singing pipes.... and that I actually like to listen to.

> > Dennis is one of my minor hearthrobs and he's always cute to me so it's just the role in CIC I don't care for; I prefer his characters with more of an edge. > > He's "seen" to better advantage in THE HARD WAY and MY WILD IRISH ROSE. I think he's miscast as a blueblood in KITTY FOYLE. > Bronxie- That explains it. I have only seen Morgan in C in C, Kittly Foyle and The Fighting 69th. Or also The Great Ziegfeld if you want to count him in that giant "Pretty Girl" number.....

You have great taste, Chris! I may be the only one who doesn't think A Night at the Opera is the best Marx movie. I love the first five better than any of the later movies. Maybe the lack of a love story makes Monkey Business my favorite, if I have to pick one, but each has it's own charms. I love The Coconuts for the way the boys seem to almost leap out of the frame. Animal Crackers I have only seen once, so I have no real opinion on it. Horse Feathers has the best songs, Monkey Business has the best one-liners, the closet scene, the chase on board ship and my favorite moment - when all four Bros grab instruments and start playing totally different songs, but somehow all end up on the same note at the end! then the chase takes up where it left off.... and Duck Soup has the best, most subversive plotline, and the mirror scene.....

It's a nice illness to have.... I think I have caught it from you....

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote} > Gorgeous caps from *Curse of the Cat People*, Jackie! I never noticed before > that the little girl has "elfin ears", how appropriate for the character! I love > how Irena makes the magical snow scene. I never noticed that before. I'll have to go back and look. Interesting, isn't it, how the caps make you notice little things.... I never noticed that the snow scene darkens almost completely to pitch black before the sparkling glittery icicles appear.....or how many shots comprise the whole scene. There are parts of this sequence that slow down in time, leaving a moment to capture the image. Like when Amy is in front of the Christmas tree, she pauses and looks up at the camera, or the moment after the magic snow - when Alice calls out " Amy. Time to come inside". Amy and Irena look over, with a wistful expression of sadness on their faces. The lighting is so different for that moment too. They turn their heads away from the light......into the shadow.

FF- I know, isn't Olive a doll? Apparently everyone else on the set of 3 Bad Men thought so, except Priscilla Bonner, who played Millie. I read that Priscilla had been told by Ford that the movie was hers for the taking, that her character would be so sympathetic that she would become a huge star. Then Olive came along and all the guys were gaga over her, and Ford kept giving her more and more screen time. Priscilla would be doing her best acting, and all the guys would be like: "Oh, look! Olive's taking a bath in a barrel" and they would all rush off to see what Ms. Borden was doing.... The truth is, I find Olive irresistible too. But I do feel sorry for Millie/Priscilla......

That's funny. I find Dennis Morgan most attractive in this picture. I never really liked him much in anything else. Maybe you can recommend some of his better films? I like Cuddles in that pic too. I just want to curl up in that chair and give him a squeeze!

Where did you get them from? I've been looking on the net. I've found a lot of titles, but no actual dvd's..... I found a marvelous website with stills from a lot of silents, called Silent Film Still Archive. I was tantalizingly close to a Tom Santschi still, but when I got to the picture from the movie, he wasn't in it. His name was credited at the bottom, but he was not there! Frustrating.