CelluloidKid

_Doris Day_ The Man Who Knew Too Much Move Over, Darling Pillow Talk Love Me or Leave Me The Glass Bottom Boat

Which one!??! LOL!

Well strange enough the film was marketed as a children's film, after all the book is geared to "Young Readers"! "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is just a very an unusual movie that offers a child's eye view of the Holocaust. It's also unusually offensive on a couple of levels. The child in question *isn't* the boy of the title ? that would be Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a doomed, eight-year-old Jewish inmate of a German concentration camp, who, what with the slave labor, starvation and general brutality. No, the picture's focus is on eight-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the conspicuously cute, coddled and well-fed son of the camp's Nazi commandant (David Thewlis). There's that.

I found this bit of info for you..I tmay or may not help: Sadly, _The Swinger_ is not currently available on video or DVD. It does occasionally play on cable so check your local listings. If you do catch the movie on TV, be warned that it has most likely been edited for television. *The truncated version shown on AMC trims ten minutes out of the film's already brief running time (81 min.) so that it can run within a designated timeslot.*

_Extremities_ (1986) - A Farrah Fawcett guilty pleasure!

Rita Moreno was in: _The Ritz_ (1976) directed by: Richard Lester! *NEW DIRECTOR: Richard Lester!*

It simply is a great book!

butler ..... _Dinner at Eight_ (1933) *New Word: Apple Tree!*

The rise and fall of MGM can be summed as a Shakespearean tragedy.

I remember way back in the day (Late 80's) when a friend introduced me to Bette Davis for the 1st time. I was memorized! So, here are my pick's for _Bette Davis:_ Since there are so many films to choose from...Some Good...Some bad, & others which are just fabulous...U pick 1 film and then U get rid of that film U chose & then add another..and then over and over..So I broke her career down by decade! A lot easier! _Bette Davis 30's_ The Cabin in the Cotton Three on a Match Of Human Bondage Dark Victory Jezebel _Bette Davis 40's_ The Letter The Man Who Came to Dinner Now, Voyager Watch on the Rhine Mr. Skeffington _Bette Davis 50's_ All About Eve Storm Center The Catered Affair Phone Call from a Stranger Another Man's Poison _Bette Davis 60's_ What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The Anniversary Dead Ringer Pocketful of Miracles Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte _Bette Davis 70's & 80's_ The Watcher in the Woods Return from Witch Mountain Burnt Offerings

Nice selection...but no _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ (1961)....?!??!

What is sad about the death of Irving Thalberg was that he was working on the preproduction of A Day at the Races (1937) and Marie Antoinette (1938)....& he wouldn't live to see both films completed, and the after effects! I thought the footage of Joan Crawford was incredible! I did like the documentary covered a little bit of Marie Dressler, & I agree the footage of her getting an Oscar from Norma was incredible!

Covent Garden ....... _Phantom of the Opera_ (1943) *NEW WORD: Camp!*

What about _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_ (1964) or _Billy the Kid versus Dracula_ (1966)!??! Hmmmmmmmmmm .... Nice and Guilty!

I thought the _The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas_ (2008) was ok! I saw it in theaters, I found it really depressing, but as a whole a very sad. The ending left me speechless, I couldn't move. It was 1 of those endings, Where both my partner & dad said "What goes around comes around!". Someone people were walking out of the theater either in tears or just mad at the film! Some people found the film trashy! Some were shocked that it was marketed as a "Kids" film! I tried to read the book, but never could get in to it! My Final Rating: C+

Man, the last 10 minutes when the documentary talks about the death of Irving Thalberg, & then Patrick places the wreath on the faux MGM gates....Man that put tears to my eyes...I forgot what a wonderful documentary this is! When Margaret Booth said she worked with all of them, and there will NEVER be another producer like Irving Thalberg my partner had tears in his eyes ..and was like "WOW!". I thought it was fascinating that Hollywood stopped working (All of the studios too, not just MGM!) for 1 day to honor his memory! WOW! Can't wait to watch Part 2 tomorrow....I forgot what a great documentary "MGM-When the Lion Roars" is...My partner found it so fascinating.

This is what my partner says, but if U watch the scene..the security guy go through a door...then Mr. Cotton pops up from the stairs and out the door he goes, then U the camera flashes to the elevator coming down.

My friend just emailed me this...I hope I'm not repeating myself!?? *MGM: When the Lion Roars is Finally Getting a DVD Release in January 2009* *Hosted by Patrick Stewart in 1992, This Excellent Three-part Documentary on MGM's Complete History Has Been Eagerly Awaited.* In April of 2009, MGM will be celebrating its 85th anniversary, and they apparently felt that waiting to release on DVD an important documentary about their history had to wait until then to have more relevance. Certainly when the three-part docu called "When the Lion Roars" premiered on TNT in March of 1992, it was bar-none the most thorough documentary every done on the history of a major studio from Hollywood's golden era. Those who remember seeing it originally or remember the rare reruns of it on TCM or PBS in ensuing years have been begging Warner to release it on DVD for over a decade. And it's one three-part documentary that will hold your attention through every minute of its 360 minutes. The reason for that is simple: MGM was a major contributor of American pop culture for most of the middle part of the 20th century. MGM was also one of the most proficient movie studios in the world that managed to not only create a happy and inspired working environment, but also concocting some of the greatest movie classics the world has ever known. Arguably, its best efficiency came during its first 13 years of operation when under the power of a name that probably sounds familiar to you from Hollywood yore: Irving Thalberg. In the first part of this documentary, the viewer had a chance to see rare detail into the formation of MGM, how Marcus Loew bought up Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures--then setting up legendary Louis B. Mayer as Vice President. The fascination is in when Irving Thalberg is brought in (with Harry Rapf) to head the production department where the real power was in getting movies made. Thalberg eventually proved that he had more creative acumen in that department and became so prolific in his ability to pick hit projects that Mayer started to resent it. The real tension, however, was in what kind of films each one wanted to see made at the studio. hrough Part One, many rare photos and interviews never seen before are included. But you can say that for all three parts. Plus, the classy presence and voice of host Patrick Stewart adds a lot to the whole thing. From the outset of interviews, photos and rare home movies, you have Stewart acting a lmost as an omniscient narrator of all the events, complete with atmospheric set designs on a soundstage that give the essence of the time period. Having Stewart's godlike observations on all the political insides of the running of MGM provides an awesome depth that helps us truly understand how this studio operated. It also provides a lot of harsh truths about the attempts to destroy those on the inside if, more so, certain stars who were signed to the studio during its true glory years of the 1930's and 40's. By Part Two, the show gives us a heavily detailed account of what made Mayer and Thalberg tick. We find out that Thalberg has increased his creative drive while approving dozens of movie projects day in and day out. We're led to believe that it might have been because he was taking advantage of any life he might have had left considering he had a bad heart condition. When he has a heart attack in 1932 that puts him temporarily out of commission, Mayer steps in to enact revenge on the man he despises for taking the studio in the direction of literary dramas. Once Thalberg arrives back to MGM to resume work, he finds out that Mayer has relegated him to a lesser role in the production end of things. It all comes down to Mayer wanting to create more populist type of entertainment. Well, this second part reminds us that had it not have been for Mayer, those glory years of musicals and dramatic spectacles possibly wouldn't have happened. When Thalberg dies in 1937, you can't help but argue that MGM's true golden years started then, despite Thalberg being one of the most brilliant producers of the 20th century. At this point in the documentary we hear all the background stories of all the MGM classics of the late 1930's, 40's and early 50's. We all know that "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" (even though, in reality, produced independently through David O. Selznick) have their own monumental tales all told in prior documentaries devoted to those movies. Nevertheless, "When the Lion Roars" still gives us plenty of details about their creation. Notably, however, it's the inner machinations of Mayer and his associates through those golden years that tell us there was a lot of darkness behind the glittery light of the greatest movie factory in the world. We learn about Judy Garland being treated badly by Mayer and how just about every A-list star under contract at MGM were more or less slaves to Mayer's shaping of their images. While he's still beloved by many of the stars and staff, the next part goes into the details of how he became usurped by new blood in the early 1950's via decree of the true studio head, Nicholas Schenck. That's when this documentary shows you that even in the real-life movie business, you can have Shakespearean tragedy. Part Three, as you might guess, explores the decline of MGM and that tragic decline of Mayer. The bitter irony of Mayer is when we're told that when he was in the hospital dying in 1957 after being bumped out a number of years earlier by a new forward-thinking manager of the studio, Dore Schary, he utters to some of his closest confidants: "Nothing matters..." After the magnificent spectacle Mayer created, he's reduced to a speck of dust in his own mind and a victim of the hard-boiled movie industry. Schary hardly bats an eye about Mayer's decline after leaving the studio and plows into taking MGM into new territory. Most of that direction was more dramatic and edgier fare that was also slightly more cerebral. In that regard, it was somewhat like another Thalberg. But with the advent of TV creating competition, Schary was soon gone and "When the Lion Roars" will show younger generations just how ephemeral the golden age of the studio was when the competition of TV slowly brought the studio down more than a few notches by the 1960's. Yes, the studio continued to make movies (and still does), though never recaptured the era Mayer took it to. Now that this outstanding documentary is finally coming to DVD in January of '09, those interested in the history of the old studio system can finally put everything into perspective how the process worked, through inspiration, obsession and usual sinister corporate maneuvers. Unlike studios today with similar ugly inside problems, MGM was able to still project the sheen of class from the outset that's still unsurpassed. The production values on "When the Lion Roars" itself is about equal to anything MGM once produced in the Mayer era and deserves to be in your classic movie (or documentary) DVD collection.

*MGM Backlot, 1952*

Have U read Peter Bogdanovich's book: _Who the Devil Made it_!??.. Very fascinating book! My mother bought this for me for a Xmas present when it 1st came out in 1998. It's a wonderful book that includes conversations between him and 16 renowned film directors. I still have my original hardback copy...a little battered and abused around the edges, but I still have it after all these years! Among the accomplished and diverse figures included in the book: _Who the Hell's in It_, are Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Sidney Lumet, Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, and Raoul Walsh. I want to read Peter Bogdanovich's other book: _Who the Hell's in It: Conversations with Hollywood's Legendary Actors_ is a companion piece to Bogdanovich?s 1998 book, _Who the Devil Made It_. Still haven't done it since there are other Hollywood books I have been reading!

Carol Haney was in: _Invitation to the Dance_ (1956) W./Gene Kelly! NEW STAR: Gene Kelly! (I love Gene Kelly!)

I met Peter Bogdanovich back in 2001 when he came to the Denver International Film Festival to introduce his film: _The Last Picture Show_ (1971) & do a Q&A W./the audience....He was a very nice guy, very inforformative and very open. He even signed my DVD copy of the _The Last Picture Show_ .

Esther Williams was in: _Jupiter's Darling_ (1955) directed by George Sidney! *NEW DIRECTOR: George Sidney!*

I never really thought that MM died at the end of the film _Niagara_ (1953)...because U do see the elevator go down after Joseph Cotton leaves.

Robert Benchley was in: _Week-End at the Waldorf_ (1945) W./ Lana Turner! *NEW STAR: Lana Turner!*