JackFavell

Rabbits are too easy. I've never seen *The Geisha Boy,* I've always stayed away from Jerry unless he was with Dean. Love *My Friend Irma.* No rabbits in that one, but Marie Wilson looks like one. I love Bud and Lou, but I am hooked on Once Upon a Time, especially the guy from the Full Monty who plays Rumpelstiltskin. He's fantastic. Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 15, 2012 8:04 PM

That's right, I should have known that Bob Montgomery was in Blondie, it was just on in the last week or so..... but I wasn't paying much attention to poor Marion that day.

Earle was in a ton of movies, most well known right now as the ham actor in the newly discovered lost film, UPSTREAM, directed by John Ford. He was in several Ford films over the years, but I think the role he would be best known for is the Earle of Kent in Mary of Scotland, with Kate Hepburn, and then in So Big (1931) as Purvis De Jong. I wonder if it isn't a really bad picture of Johnny Mack Brown? He would still have been getting the push at MGM in 1930-1931, and he was a big football star, so they would have wanted to use him in their poster as a draw for the studio.

She did work at MGM, Bronxie. Earle Fox was at MGM at this time, though he didn't seem to stay at any one studio for long. I am doubting whether it's actually him... but it does look like him. I can't figure out who else it would be.

Hey there miss B! How are you?

The dark haired woman you thought was Mary Astor couldn't be Norma Talmadge?

Lawrence Tibbett was a prestige star hired from the Opera, and made at least one movie that I can remember, something with a nice Russian look to it similar to The Cossacks. I can't remember the title offhand. I didn't even realize you had listed Wallace Beery as Lon Chaney or I would have mentioned it. I still can't figure out who the dark haired woman is next to Beery, she looks very familiar, like a Ruth Chatterton type. I find the order of the champagne bubbles to be hilarious, with Norma in the highest bubble with Marion, and Garbo on the rise, and poor Joan fated to rest underneath Norma for all of eternity.

I think your Neil Hamilton is Earle Fox. Definitely Robert Montgomery. Definitely Marion Davies. Not so sure about Jean Hersholt. I know the one you say is Mary Astor, isn't. Maybe Hedda Hopper?

Haha! I do remember them, Jake! Here's one for you:

Hiya, Hon! I really enjoyed The BIG Country. One thing that really struck me was how the characters mirrored each other. It seems to me that there's two kinds of westerners. The ones who work hard and keep their mouths shut, and the ones who want everything big and brassy. Carroll Baker's character Patricia talked the talk, but didn't really walk the walk, if you know what I mean. She was western, but in the sense that she got what she wanted and never let you forget who she was. She wanted a big, strong, robust kind of man, maybe one who was a bit show offy, like herself. All along, Jean Simmons' Julie was out there, working hard, riding hard, trying to keep her father's place from falling apart, a real western woman, quiet about what she was doing. She also had a profession, which made her seem a little more settled and grounded. Both women were kind of high born, at least for the west, with strong fathers. I wonder if Julie's father had not died, would she have been a little more like Pat? They seem like polar opposites in a lot of ways, so maybe their upbringing was very different. I think Julie's father brought her up to give back to the land and the community, whereas Pat and her dad were all about taking charge. They seemed like they gave something at first, in service to the community, but in reality, Pat's dad became corrupted somewhere along the way and just got used to the power. He became a taker. What's that phrase? Absolute power corrupts absolutely? Maybe this was the problem for the major. It's no accident he was called "The Major" - he had the majority of the populace and the land behind him. He was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted, and he got to thinking he was right all the time, kind of like Hank Quinlan in *Touch of Evil.* I didn't find him despicable, just wrong headed. No one in this movie was really hateful. You could at least see everyone's side of things. Julie's father was in the middle of things. He was fair minded, because he had to be. The circumstances of where people lived in these rough times denoted what they became, or so it seems to me this movie is getting at. I get the feeling that these strong men sprang up from the land they tended, and took on the land's characteristics. So the Major became a big bully, his land stretched so far that he thought he owned the world. Mr. Maragon was thoughtful, fair-minded, because he was in the middle of things, by the water, and had to walk a fine line. Hennesey was a scrapper, an outsider who was always looking in on things. He had little, and felt the Major's control the most.... he was jealous, and saw every move on the major's part as an insult, or at least a move for more power. In some ways, he was right, but he made it personal. They both did. Throw Gregory Peck into the mix, and you start a conflagration! Because of his personality, he somehow became a catalyst. He made these men to see themselves for what they were, and they didn't really like it one bit. His upbringing on the water also made him thoughtful and reflective, but not weak. He had a little of all the men we have talked about in him - he was a forceful personality, like the Major, an outsider, like Hennesey, and was fair-minded like Maragon. Everybody hated him for that. Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 15, 2012 10:35 AM Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 15, 2012 10:38 AM

Swanson could do anything! Drama, comedy, wrestling....

ugaarte - I am glad you are feeling better, you have been missed! I love your story of sitting on your dad's shoulders with the mirror, and also the cedar closet! I always dreamed I could get to Narnia. Sometimes I thought if I could swing high enough in the air, and jump out of my swing at the right moment, I might end up there or in Oz. I never made it. In the fall this year, my daughter, husband and I were walking at a nearby nature preserve. In the middle of the path, a bright orange seed or fruit, just the color of a tiny pumpkin, caught my eye. I said, "Hey, look at this teeny pumpkin, guys!" and pushed it with my foot. Suddenly legs popped out from the underside of the seed, and it proceeded to crawl up on my foot! I screamed, as did my daughter, but then we started laughing. I shook him off my foot and we carefully tried to move him from the path to the wooded area on the side. I haven't been that freaked out by a spider in a long time but he was beautiful. They are called Marbled Orb Weavers. They look something like this:

Wow! I've never heard of them before.

I'm trying to think of some classic films that use contact lenses as a plot point. Um.....

I do too! I am a big Gloria fan.

> You're such a pushover! You'd never see me fall like that. HA! That made me laugh. > I thought all of the in-law stuff was great. It felt very real. And how Nora just rolls with it all is adorable. Everyone has family troubles! Even the most sophisticated. I just felt it was a breath of fresh air when they finally got out to the nightclub and he's toodling on that mini sax/ Then he kisses the wrong woman at midnight. Nora's benign but knowing reaction to his lipstick covered kisser is worth the price of the box set! > Right. This is where movies can be similar to television, where you end up spending a lot of time with the same characters, developing a real closeness to them. Television is more like family whereas films are vacations. But Nick & Nora and Holmes & Watson are "family." I never thought of that! It's true. > Oh, of course! She's a riot! > So do you love such a woman going crazy or how she plays it or both? Both. > I do like those whacks! I love the physical affection. You must have loved Adam's Rib. > Cheap dates are where you can learn the most! The fancy stuff is full of phoniness. I'd avoid those like the plague. A fancy date doesn't have to be phony. Look at Nick and Nora. > *That's how I saw them. I watched Room Service and The Big Store, and Go West first. Why I ever went back to watch more, I don't know.* > > Oh, really? Was it because you knew what the very best Marx Brothers films were? Nope. I just liked em. > You wanted to be Groucho and had a crush on Harpo? As a young girl? Yeah, you're definitely crazy. You bet. > It's going to be an interesting journey. I've got a lot of different little paths I'll be taking. I just got the Garbo box set, so that's going to be another different path for me. I also got the Wellman "Forbidden Hollywood" box set for Christmas. Oh, lordy! You and Garbo. What movies are in it? I give you points for trying anything. > Like Carroll Baker in The Big Country. > > She's playing Miss G! That's a big role! MissG is as far from Carroll Baker in that movie as can be. I am closer to Carroll. > I'm not that bad of company, am I?! No, I just want you to watch it! It's good! > This is the kind of dance you spoke of to me before I started watching Fred and Ginger; the love-making. Ginger is who I was really paying attention to during "Night and Day." She's pitch-perfect. What sets them apart from any other dancers, in fact sets HER apart from any of Fred's other partners, is that she thinks the whole time she is dancing with him. You can see her change. She is overcome, and lets herself be wooed. > It's not that great of a film, but William Powell is still very good. Roz is the bungling woman that I think you'd dislike. She sounds like she hadn't found her legs in film yet. I'll try to find it today. > I found her to be very sexy in *Lady of Burlesque*. I like when Barbara flashed both hard and soft like this. That's exactly it. I loved her in this, she's the whole show, and she never disappoints. Just like Capra said, "when she turns it on.... " > *Harold and Maude.* > > That's one I don't have. I primarily have films from the 20s to the 60s. Oh, blast! You are the one person I think would really like this one. My next choice would be *The Man Who Would Be King*, but that's seventies too. This is getting harder, you've seen so many! I'm going to make you work! Tell me which of these you've seen and pick one to watch: A Star is Born 1937 Mon Oncle La Strada Flesh and the Devil (if it's in your Garbo set) Ninotchka Throne of Blood Riffraff 1936 Hold Your Man A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Union Depot (1932) The Roaring Twenties G-Men Angels with Dirty Faces Manhattan Melodrama Libeled Lady I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang ( I am assuming you've seen it) Pygmalion History is Made at Night Little Miss Marker Tarzan the Ape Man (another good series) > I figured I was going to come up short. I do a lot of family stuff. I'm a single who lives the married life. You're sweet. Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 13, 2012 9:26 AM

> Oddly enough, it's the very beginning of the film that I loved. I thought it was hilarious seeing Nick with Nora's in-laws. Lots of funny moments. I liked Joe. I love the line when he tosses the very young Paul Fix down the stairs, and Nick coming up the stairs says, "My! What big confetti they're throwing these days." > I can see how the two are similar, in that you watch for the two leads and their relationship more than anything else. At least I've got Gloria Grahame showing up in the "Thin Man"! You are totally right, each of the series is built completely around our liking of the main characters TOGETHER. I actually like that one with Gloria a lot, of the later ones. Again, I like the milieu. > Really? I would not have guessed that. What did you like about her? I would have thought Ida Moore was your favorite. I thought she was fun. I forget Ida.... it says she is an old woman in the credits.... does she toddle through every once in a while? I can't remember. Neva is great, she reminds me so much of Gail Patrick... always so snooty and arrogant and above it all, but then coming apart completely when her baby, epicac(?) is spitting up. She goes crazy. I love it. > I completely agree. I like when Kate gives her a good whack. You like those whacks! I should have known you'd like this movie. > So do I. I love his watchful quiet. I love it when he takes her to lunch. At first, it's like every woman's nightmare of getting all dressed up to go out, then end up on the cheap date. But it actually turns out fun. > Aldo and Chuck? Now that's some casting! I'm going to try and watch it very soon. I do like Spence and Kate together, even if their films don't always hold up for me. I liked *Desk Set* from start to finish, though. But it doesn't feature the high notes of *Woman of the Year* and *Adam's Rib*. Exactly. > That is correct. I have the lesser of the two box sets, but that may end up being a good way to see the boys. That's how I saw them. I watched Room Service and The Big Store, and Go West first. Why I ever went back to watch more, I don't know. I do find something in each to amuse me. And they must have just hit me right at the time. I was pretty young, and was highly influenced by Groucho, cause I was shy. I wanted to have a comeback for everything like he did. And I fell in love with Harpo. And Chico. > I'm learning I need some kind of a story unless I really enjoy the comedy routines. For example, I don't need a story with the Three Stooges. It's all about their physical comedy and interactions. We'll see if that is still true when you get through all of them. > Poor Jimmy! He was definitely stuck with a hapless role. Like Carroll Baker in The Big Country. > I'm going to try and watch it tonight. Yay! Go! Now! > Very good! > > > > > > I love that one! She's all breathless and then he's so casual at the end! > She's definitely at her best as "Hildy." This is why I was surprised to see her in *China Seas* and *Rendezvous* playing a much different woman. I found her cute and sweet. I have to go dig up Rendezvous, I know I recorded it, but I put it away somewhere. > I think it's a very fun film and the milieu is a big part of the allure. It's a good watch. I just love how Barbara can seamlessly change gears with her characters and films. She kills me when she does song and dance. Really, she could do anything. > Yes! I love watching suggestions. It really helps me become a richer person. So go ahead and fire away. Harold and Maude. > Nope, I'm afraid not. I was overwhelmed with family stuff. I fell 7 films short. So I'm trying to watch those films this month. I'm sorry. I thought for sure you were going to make it. >I need to watch 27-28 films this month. I've watched 10, thus far. Go! Get going! Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 12, 2012 10:09 PM

Teddy at the Throttle was one of my first silents, too! My sister had the Blackhawk 8mm version, and it was one of the first we watched. Later I got my own projector and bought movies from them. I still have pleasant memories of Teddy.

He is! Some of my favorite scenes are of them walking Asta! I love how they are talking with Sam Levene or whoever, and the leash keeps pulling them back, to the fire hydrant, the tree, the fence......

>As Jackie does, I really find her terribly funny in Dinner at Eight but I think you might loathe that movie, even more than Wife vs. Secretary. >Loathe? That sounds like a great challenge! I'll watch it next. I really didn't like WvsS, but I love Dinner at Eight. It's a drama though. I agree with MissG, I pretend Little Nicky doesn't exist. I prefer Asta's family troubles.

I must have missed your comments on *After the Thin Man.* It starts off slow with all that family stuff of Myrna's, then there's the stupid dance number with brunette Penny Singleton. After that it gets good, and my man Joe Calleia is great! I think *The Thin Man series* is quite good all the way through, it and the *Sherlock Holmes* series are my favorite series ever made, as a whole. They hold up well, and if you can get it out of your head that anything will ever come close to the original Thin Man, you will enjoy the rest of the series. I'm so glad you liked *Desk Set.* I never thought about the old research system as being ludicrous, but I guess it is to those of us now. There is something so charming about it, maybe because it's a slice out of a time that no longer exists, portrayed as all very modern. I love Neva Patterson in this one as Miss Warriner. And Joan is still a knockout - she and Kate have such a great relationship! You'd never think the two would work so well together. And I love Spence in this one. *Pat and Mike* is one of my other favorites. I hope you like it. Some of it is patently unbelievable, but Aldo Ray is priceless, and I love watching Kate do sports. There's a golf scene that always thrills me. I really love Spence in this one, he's so far off from his usual roles. And Charles Bronson is in it too. My favorite *Marx Bros*. movies are the early ones. I am assuming you have all the MGM ones. There is something to like in every picture they made, but the later ones lose the spark a little. For me, the more plot there is, the less I like it. I even like the *Cocoanuts,* their first, because it has such verve and crackle - the bros. are literally all over the place. Fast forward through the incredibly annoying Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw. Speaking of annoying, Jimmy Stewart in *Wife vs. Secretary* is as close to a terrible performance as I've ever seen Jimmy do. Ack! Ooh, I am most excited that you liked Jean! *China Seas* is a good adventure. Tell me, have you seen *Dinner at Eight* yet? She and Wallace Beery again - I think Jean is hilarious in it, probably her finest work comedy wise. I'd love for you to watch it if you haven't. The dance you liked in *Gay Divorcee*, was it Night and Day? I don't like Roz in her early films - they tried to make her British and dull. Except for *Night Must Fall* in which she's British, but great. They didn't know what to do with her, she had presence, so they immediately thought "upper class". She works much better as Hildy. I'm glad you liked *Lady of Burlesque.* It's nothing special, just fun. I like the milieu, but really it's all Barbara's show, and I love the fact that she does these provocative numbers! I had the same feeling about what's his name, the comic. Pinky Lee and Iris Adrian were the best of the supporting cast. Are you taking any suggestions for future films? I also wanted to know if you made your quota at the end of the year - did you sneak in 8 more movies? Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 12, 2012 8:18 AM

I wanted to capture both father and son's viewpoints because they go together - I loved Rufus, I just wasn't able to write about his side of it very well like you did. You said it beautifully. I saw a lot in both characters, thanks to the really great acting of Ives and Connors. It would be easy to play Buck without any sympathy at all, but this performance impressed me for being so true and actually had depth, even when Buck didn't. That's so hard to do, and I never expected Connors to pull something like this off. I've frankly never seen him in anything but The Rifleman, which is straightforward simple and direct. He just blew my mind here. This is my favorite role for Ives. It's pretty much my favorite role for Peck. I think it might be my favorite for Simmons and Heston too.

I love MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. It taught me to use windex for everything. "What do you mean he don't _eat no meat?_" I love THE LAST OF MRS> CHEYNEY even more. I saw Great Catherine before and it was pretty terrible in a fascinating way, like being hypnotized by a cobra who will kill you, but you can't look away. Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 11, 2012 9:11 PM

It is Shakespearean, or greek tragedy or something. It's BIG! It's the BIG Country! I like the comparison to *The Furies*. This one had the benefit of color, and I don't say that lightly, since I usually like black and white better. I just felt so sorry for Buck. He was the true opposite of Peck's character, although you think Heston is. They presented both sides of the father/son dilemma so well. I felt very sorry for Hennessey (Burl Ives) as well, he wanted a son like McKay and he got Buck, partially through his own fault. Things just didn't work out for him at all. He never wanted to become the man he did, and he was not the evil guy I thought he would be. In the end, he needed to reclaim his honor. Buck was just all gangly trouble, and this disappointment ate at Hennessey as well as his knowledge of Terril's power and corruption. But in his hate of Terril, he became just like him. Another mirror. Buck was all instinct, no thought. Brought up by a dad who was always so much stronger and smarter than he, he just wanted to prove himself, but he never could and so he would give up for a while and carouse around. Then he would come back to dad when he got into trouble. He was always a disappointment, so he got mean, but stayed as dumb. All he saw was the power that he wanted. He couldn't garner it by his behavior, so he took it like a big beast. He only learned to feed his ego. Buck was never going to measure up, he was a 10 year old in a man's body. He followed his whims and animal lusts because he really wasn't capable of any thought but that of the moment. His dad brought him up to take charge, and take what he wanted, to think highly of himself, but he really wasn't a man, so he wasn't able to handle that responsibility... He was horrible but I felt terribly sorry for him at the end, because he simply couldn't control himself - he forgot completely what his dad had said to him so when the end came, he just didn't understand... like a dog doesn't understand when he is put out of his misery. In their last scene, it was heartbreaking to see that horrible betrayed look on Buck's face, just standing there, wounded, waiting for his dad to say something to him, and all Hennessey could do was yell at him, "I told you I'd do it...." . I wanted him to say something nice to Buck, but he couldn't because he was so upset, because he knew deep down it would come to this, and he would have done anything to prevent it, but he couldn't. Parents are at their lowest when they can't stop something bad from happening to their kids. This scene was flawless to me - holding his son's head, cradling him in his arms only after he was dead. To kill your own son... the look on his face was awful. There was something grandiose about the whole thing, and yet so small and human - it captured something in every parent child relationship. Do we always kill a little bit of our children's soul? Do they drive us to do it? That's where it felt the most Shakespearean to me, and the most tragic, kind of like The Furies, where a child essentially kills her father. It brings up issues that are far deeper than the story being told. I liked that they gave Connors and Ives their moment, even though it was Peck's story. I promise I will get to the other characters eventually. It's a BIG story, after all. Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 11, 2012 8:32 PM Edited by: JackFavell on Jan 11, 2012 8:37 PM

Oh I love that one! need it on a continuous loop when I am doing housework! Such happy energy!