JackFavell

I forgot that Bright Leaf made a favorable impression on me,too. Again, haven't seen it for a while. I think I read somewhere that it wasn't too popular with the critics, but I still have a good feeling remembering it.

Do you feel he was over the top in Rebecca ? No. But I almost feel he is trapped in that role- kept from doing anything even remotely fun. George got the great part in that one. *FF* - Now, I really like Olivier, so I hope I didn't give the impression otherwise. I also like over the top performances. I even like staginess. There are some movies that critics knock because they are stagy, or a "filmed play". I actually LIKE that feeling of watching a stage play on film. I also like being able to see what made Olivier the top stage performer of his day (not to mention Gielgud, Richardson, et al.) *Bronxie* - I am glad you posted tht link to your writings. I finally got to see The Body Snatchers the other day. I liked it very much, mainly because the acting level was very high- even the male actors were extremely good, which isn't always the case in Lewton movies. I also like the sequence in the Leopard man with the little Mexican girl.... I wish they would show The Haunting at some time other than 3 in the afternoon - it never fails that I get into it and just as it's getting creepy, I have to turn it off because Alice is coming home from school! I have never seen the end- just the beginning about 4 times.....I like the part with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom getting scared out of their wits while trapped in their room and then laughing about it afterwards. That's about as far as I have ever gotten in the movie, and I know it's a setup- making you laugh, putting you at ease a little, then I'm sure they sock you with the real thing.... I have never seen Repulsion, but Knife in the Water was as unsettling a movie as I have seen. I turned it off because I couldn't stand the suspense.....He really spends a lot of time just setting up, creating the mood. It seems to me that Polanski was extremely good at getting "the unknown" in his films, not that I have seen many. The buildup is long and effective. Something is coming, and you can feel it, but you don't know what it is, or when it will happen......

My list is from the most popular Coop pics, because I just don't have the knowledge you guys have. Many are movies I haven't seen for years, so I may not be able to say why I have a good or bad feeling about a movie. When I was younger, my specialty was movies from the thirties and forties, so I am sadly lacking in knowledge of the older Coop from the fifties. *Favorites* : Meet John Doe Ball of Fire The Westerner Love in the Afternoon Mr Deeds Goes to Town High Noon Beau Geste (not just for Coop, I just love the story and everything about it) Lives of a Bengal Lancer The Plainsman Saratoga Trunk Along Came Jones Desire *Movies I've never liked much but keep trying* For Whom the Bell Tolls Sergeant York Everything else I either haven't seen, or can't remember.

Those Renee pics are the best I've seen! I love all of them. Thanks for posting.

I realize that Henry V is an historic movie, but I don't really like him in it. I've tried! I have seen many other actors play that part. I have no real reasoning behind my dislike of Olivier in this role, just a feeling that he is a bit cartoonish or unreal in the role, and I like a couple other, more modern actors better for the life they bring to it. Hamlet is very fine. He is the best I've seen. It's as subtle as he can get. He gets at the psychology better and in a tighter way than anyone else. Derek Jacobi is the only other actor I've seen to come close. But by far my favorite of the Olivier Shakespeare movies is Richard III. What a fun creepy portrayal he gives. I feel like he finally let go under that persona. And the movie itself is so entertaining, in a devilish way. I think he is superb in it. I also just love Gielgud in this one as the doomed and very romantic Clarence. My other favorites are: Wuthering Heights ( Ijust can't help it, he is so good looking and gloomy) The Magic Box (another movie where Olivier lets go- he has only a small role, but he is so good I have to mention it. My ex husband watched it with me, and after Olivier's scene, I said, "do you know who that is?" and he hadn't even recognized him! He is understated and mild in this film, and to me it is perfect movie acting. He literally disappears into the character. The Entertainer- He is great. Sleuth - Another fun creepy one. Now although I have said he is great and superb and all that- I still feel that he is a little over the top. I think he just doesn't have that subtlety that makes a great film actor - role after role after role. He is exciting, but there is always something stagy about him, and sometimes it fits the role he's given. But all in all, I am always waiting for the trick he will do with his voice, or the moment when he will leap forward, it all seems like tricks to me.

FXreyman- I have to agree with you about Brian Keith- he was *exactly* what we think of as Teddy Roosevelt. It is a superb portrayal. One should watch the movie just to see him.... (and to enjoy the sheer fun of Sean Connery as an Arab) I would like to add that William Daniels did a fantastic job as John Adams in 1776, though he was not president yet in the movie. I believe he played either Adams or JohnQuincy again in a TV show for PBS. Lee Tracy gets my vote as well.

Your list of faves and mine are quite similar.... I would say that Streetcar is higher on my list, but again, I have to be in the mood. I have always thought that although Olivier was considered the best stage actor, I find him generally uncomfortable on film. There are exceptions, of course. Vivien was not considered a good stage actress (I think she may have been too delicate) but I think it's reasonable to consider her the best film actress of all time.

I'd like to see Dark Journey again sometime. I remember really liking it years ago. And Storm in a Teacup would be wonderful to see....I also saw Sidewalks of London a long time ago. It would be nice to see all three of these early Leigh movies together in a little mini filmfest..... I still like Anna K., but I saw it the last time it was on, and I guess I just wasn't in the mood last night. I have to be in a good "bleak" mood....and I wasn't somber enough last night. Plus I have been a politics junkie for the last two days. Luckily, that mood has passed...

*Fred* - I just wanted to say thanks for posting the youtube clips- I realize now that I can go back and watch the sections I missed. *TripleH* - I was wondering if it was worth getting the dvd with Queen of Spades. I guess I will have to check it out now. How is the other movie?

Have any of you seen Chaplin's "A Woman of Paris"? I highly recommend it. I believe Chaplin gave Menjou his break- he had been a Broadway star, I think. Anyway, he is so good in it, I just love his performance. He and Edna Purviance are really wonderful together, and he is just what you would want him to be - dapper, charming, roguish, and good natured. The movie itself is quite brilliant, well worth looking at. I liked it tremendously. I had to print this one again- It cracks me up....

i watched The Houskeeper's Daughter this morning I only saw a fragment of it- my daughter was getting ready for school too, and that is a death knell for me watching TCM between 7 and 8:15 or so. I have to follow her around to get her to actually put clothes on....

Desk Set I don't know why I like it. It is outdated and silly, but I find Kate's relationships with Blondell and the rest of the staff charming. In fact, I just love Joan Blondell in this movie! I think if she were not in it, I might not like the movie so much. Hepburn and Tracy are lovely together as well, and I love Neva Patterson as the uptight computer programmer who ends up losing her professional poise.

I look forward to it. It's a good tiem of year for contemplative.....

Darn, I was hoping it was David- I enjoy looking for actors in their first roles or bit parts.... John I just don't remember in that movie for some reason.... I wonder who and where he is....

The only Gig Young movies I can think of are Desk Set (hate him, but you are supposed to), and Young at Heart, in which I swear he is drunk for a couple of the scenes. Still, he has a very casual demeanor that is nice and comfortable to watch.

David Carradine is in it?

I finally saw The Red Balloon recently, as well. You are right- best D--m movie ever.... I figured I would have to have seen it before seeing the Binoche one. "Flight" is next in my queue from Netflix ...I have Moontide with Gabin right now, just haven't had time to watch yet. FF- I think you were the one who recommended it to me?

Gives new meaning to the term "hot" pink... For some reason, this is my favorite...she's just so cute....

"throne room". *Niagara* is a fun movie...trashy in a good way. I haven't seen it in ages. I just remember MM's walk away from the camera that just lasts forever.... *Miss G* - did you get to watch all your Vivien movies? I crashed out after Waterloo Bridge, which I finally got to see... at least most of it. It reminded me of my best friend in high school- He loved Vivien so much, and this was his favorite role. I was having a hard time with the editing for some reason. And I am not a Robert Taylor fan. Once in a while I get in a hyper-critical mood, and then I really should not watch any movies at all....Vivien was great, as usual. I was worried that they would only show movies in which she threw herself under vehicles ...... *Re: Anthony Quinn* - it takes a thief - yes, that's it! That's why he sees right through them...almost laughs at them.. you phrased that perfectly.

oooohhh, Chris. That is awesome....wish her a happy birthday for us! Ro- absolutely great ramble on OBI- wonderful stuff about why people do what they do. I think you are completely right that people many times refuse to bother with the facts because that would get in the way of their feelings... They want what they want, and they will bend things to fit their viewpoint. At least after something like that comes to light, there's generally a swing in the opposite direction- toward reason, and compassion.... *SPOILERS* MissG- your pics from OBI were just spectacular! They made me remember Dana Andrews' attempt to hide his quiet inner desperation, then hysteria (this is one of his great performances). As the only one at all able to communicate with the mob, he completely wins your sympathy without falling into cliches. When he realizes that the posse simply doesn't care, that he might just as well be senile or speak another language, it just wrings your heart. He, Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford are so fine in this movie, a sort of motley crew thrown together with nothing in common, except being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I like how different they are from each other- from the crowd, too. I like the tenderness Dana shows toward the old man, Ford, who is just so far gone that you can't imagine why anyone would believe him capable of murder. I like Quinn's aura of guilt- (did I say this already? I typed a reply before, but lost it, so excuse me if I repeat myself) even though it is for the wrong crime .... I think this was a bit of a breakthrough for him. His flair is perfect for the role.....I love the way he seems to understand and smile in the face of prejudice... Mr. Frank- I completely underestimated you. I owe you an apology. And I am so glad you watched and liked Three "Bad" Men! The caps you posted were fantastic. One of these days, I will figure out how you guys post such clear pictures.... but anyway, I loved them. My favorite princess? - Princess Bronxie O'Gill... and her Lusty Rusty.... FF- I have a sort of fixation with Germany during the war as well. I think some of the reasons that people went along with the Nazis were that they purposely tapped into secret, unfounded fears and also that it happened over a bit of time. By the time everyday people realized about the atrocities, they could not stop the machine... much like in OBI and The Mortal Storm.....even victims of the Nazis assumed that they would stop at some point, or that they would be driven from power before something "really" bad happened. And what do you do when your best friend simply disappears overnight? Where do you go to complain? I think there was a feeling of fear that pervaded everything- my mother-in-law says that there were informers in every building, in every walk of life...how that came to be isn't so hard to understand - fear makes us do strange things that we would never dream of doing under "normal" circumstances. Like putting people in prison without the benefit of trial, or instituting torture with excuses why it is OK for US to do it.....

Oh, it is, it is! And with that look on his face? Oh my!

That one has been my screen saver for weeks now, and I have no intention of changing it anytime soon- It makes me smile every time I see it, thanks to the caption Miss G cleverly added!

I missed the beginning, but absolutely loved the parts I saw, starting with Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne as the two macabre golf buddies, and then Michael Redgrave who was tremendously good as the ventriloquist slowly being driven mad by ...... professional jealousy. I hope TCM shows this one again....

No Blarney.

Nice choices, Ro. "Ghost and Mrs. Muir" is great, with just enough "bleak" to make you use up another kleenex box. Great double feature with Enchantment. I can't believe it, but was that 6,000 post telling us that Frank watched 3 Bad Men? It IS an awesome movie, and I would recommend it to everyone. I am impressed, Frank. I can't offer cake, Miss G, but I can offer two kitties, a half eaten hot dog, a cigarette burning on a plate, and the best looking man in movies.... Happy 15,000! I have learned so much from you, and I hope you post 15,000 more (just not this week..)