Stephan55
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Posts posted by Stephan55
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Great Thread!
Wow! So many great composers and scores!.... Just way too many to list....
A host of wonderful scores from any of these Greats come to mind, like a flood.
*Andre Rieu, Aaron Copland, Bernard Herrmann, Boston Pops, Bruno Coulais, Carter Burwell, Elmer Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, Erich Kunzel, Ferrante & Teicher, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Henry Mancini, Itzhak Perlman, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, John Williams, Joshua Bell, Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, London Pops, Malcolm Arnold, Max Steiner, Michael Kamen, Ned Nash, Nino Rota, Salter & Skinner, Sir Georg Solti, Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman, Vangelis, Wojciech Kilar,*
I concur with most everything written so far, but I will specifically contribute this...
IMO: I believe that perhaps the single most influential composer/innovator that set the trend for all movie sound tracks to come was *Max Steiner*. And the first movie that made music an actual integrated and essential "character" was *King Kong (1933)* .
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 9, 2011 12:56 PM
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Great Director, Great Movies...
I am looking forward to a TCM film tribute in the near future?
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Perhaps the subject matter is just to vast & "meaty" to be discussed in the kind of depth that you desire within these simple forums.
The trouble for me, on a subject like this, is that I have way to much to say.
I'm a "student" of history, however too often it is written from the author's perspective and within the narrow confines of whatever happens to be the politically correct agenda of the society of that period.
That said, I'm not one to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," as there is still much that can be learned so long as one looks/reads with an analytically critical eye. To gain a broader picture, I've learned to search out the more obscure, controversial and less politically correct historical perspectives, whenever possible. Written by the "other side" (the underdog, the loser, as opposed to the victor).
When it comes to the American Civil War we are very fortunate to have so much information, from so many sources, from practically all sides. There are too many books, and papers to mention.
If I were to recommend a single, definitive, and most objective,video series on the subject, it would probably be PBS's Ken Burns: The Civil War.
As far a more personal observation, I see the American Civil War as the sprouting of the seed that Thomas Jefferson, and others, planted in the declaration of independence.
However it took almost another 100 years for that seed to bear tangible fruit when America began to seriously reject its own apartheid system as result the 1950's-60's Civil Rights movement.
I see the American Civil War as a prime example of what can happen when any culture becomes too dependent upon a single source of revenue based upon a "cheap" and plentiful source of (albeit socially unsustainable) energy.
In the case of the American "old" south, it was cotton and slavery that served as the economic catylast for revolution.
But perhaps this is oversimplification of a very complex subject with many, many facets.
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 9, 2011 12:23 PM
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Ummm, that's a tough one....
IF I had the ability to transport myself through time, and was able to understand ALL languages, I'd love to be able to "Time Travel" to ALL the important historical events that I've read and been told about so that I could witness them first hand.
Like the time traveler in H. G. Wells The Time Machine, I'd also like to travel far into the prehistoric past, and into the distant future to see what becomes of us.
But to be locked into a specific era for a lifetime... I think that I would want to be one of those hardy French Voyagers in North America during the relatively tranquil period of the early 1700's. I'd love to explore the virgin territory of what would become the border region of the United States and Canada; see the natural flora and fauna of the Great Plains, the headwaters of the Missouri, the Rockies, and beyond. I'd like to intermingle with the various native American tribes, trap and trade and live as pristine and primordial existence as I could.
Of course, in order to maximize my appreciation of what once was, I'd have to retain some of my memories of what it would eventually, all to quickly, become.
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*Gatsbygirl*
*I was very distracted by Clark Gabel's teeth. Everytime they did a close-up it looked like the bottom two were black. I remember reading somewhere that he had dentures but it is surprising to me that they wouldn't have fixed them before they started filming. Did this bother anyone else?*
That sounds like something a dental hygienist would say
*Here's some Gable biopic trivia that you may find interesting.*
*Clark Gable*, also known as The King, was born: *William Clark Goebel* (later changed to Gable) on February 1,1901, in Cadiz, Ohio, USA, and died November 16,1960, in Los Angeles, California, USA, from a coronary thrombosis after suffering a massive heart attack.
*Spouses*
*Josephine Dillon* (born 1884, died 1971) An acting coach and theater manager. Married to Gable from December 13, 1924 - April 1, 1930 (divorced)
*Maria Franklin* (born 1884, died 1966) A wealthy Texas socialite. Married to Gable from July 19, 1931 - March 4, 1939 (divorced)
*Carole Lombard* (born 1908, died 1942) Movie Star. Married to Gable from March 29, 1939 - January 16, 1942 (her death in a plane crash)
*Sylvia Ashley* (born 1904, died 1977) An English model, actress and socialite, who was best known for her marriages to British aristocrats and American movie stars. Married to Gable from December 20, 1949 - April 21, 1952 (divorced)
*Kay Williams* (born 1917, died 1983) Former wife of Adolph Spreckels Jr., heir to the Spreckels Sugar fortune. Married to Gable from July 11, 1955 - November 16, 1960 (Gable's death) 1 child: *John Clark Gable*
Gable's father was an oil-well driller by profession, who traveled around and re-married two more times after Clark's mother died when he was only 10 months old.
As a teenager Clark became interested in acting but bounced around the country in many trades before becoming success a successful actor.
Gable's success didn't entirely happen by accident. Clark married five times, and all of Gable's wives had attained a measure of success and/or wealth status before marrying him.
Women had always played an important role in Gables life.
Women liked Clark, and Gable, being an opportunist, knew a good thing when he saw it. It is likely that four of his five marriages were to promote his career or attain a degree of financial security.
In Portland, Oregon, an impoverished Clark was selling neckties in a department store and barely supporting himself. Actress friend *Laura Hope Crews* introduced him to *Josephine Dillon*, who was an acting coach and theater manager. Dillon was 17 years older than Clark, but saw promise in the ambitious, albeit malnourished, young man. *Clark's mouth and teeth were in terrible shape so Dillon paid to have them all capped.* She guided him in building up his body and taught him posture and poise. She trained him to lower his high pitched voice and improve his speech. Years of rigorous training began to pay off. Eventually their relationship became "romantic," and on December 13, 1924 they married and Dillon financed their move to where the action was: Hollywood.
Josephine became Clark's manager, and shortened his name.
Under her tutelage and mentorship, Clark began to pick up extra work in silent films. But when major roles were slow to come, Dillon returned Clark to the stage for further polishing. After many parts, Gable gained experience and garnered good reviews.
Clark and Josephine remained married for 5 and half years, but divorced in April, 1930.
Some say that Clark "abandoned" Josephine for "greener pastures" when the depression and "talking" pictures caused a cancellation of many plays.
In any event, a short time later Gable became the 4th husband of *Maria Langham* (aka *Ria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham Gable* ), a wealthy Texas socialite, also 17 years older than him.
Ria and Gable played the socialite game, eventually returning to Hollywood where Clark again worked as an extra, but began getting larger supporting, generally "tough guy," roles. *Howard Strickland*, MGM's publicity manager, took notice and developed Gable's studio image, building him up as a man's man. *Minna Wallis* became Clark's agent and in 1931 Gable was offered a small but prominent part in The Painted Desert . Critics took notice and Clark's fan base grew. MGM began pairing Gable with its stable of female stars, many of whom Clark was romantically linked, both on and off the screen, and his career began to skyrocket.
Clark's years of voice training with Josephine Dillon paid off, as many silent stars were being "squeezed" out with the intro of sound, Clark was there to help fill a void.
*1933-34* was a pivotal time for Clark. His "loveless" marriage to Ria was on the rocks, due primarily to his numerous leading lady affairs. His wages were being garnished to keep his first wife, Josephine quiet, and Ria was "punishing" him by mismanaging what was left. The Hollywood morals clause threatened his contract, and his overbearing father (with whom he stated that he never got along) came to live with him, a destitute dustbowl refugee.
Under this pressure, *Gable, who was known to be a heavy smoker and drinker, began to drink and smoke to even greater excess*.
In *June, 1933*, a day before he was to begin shooting Dancing Lady , *Clark was hospitalized with severe, life threatening, periodontal abscesses and most of his teeth were extracted*. The movie was shot around him during the couple of weeks it took for his gums to heal so he could be *fitted for dentures*. However, in the days before antibiotics, the infection returned and became systemic and Gable was hospitalized again for a month, also having his gall bladder removed. Production was held up and the film went well over budget.
This same year Gable underwent "cosmetic" surgery to have his ears "flattened."
*Louis B. Mayer* felt that Clark's illnesses were primarily self-inflicted and docked Gable two weeks pay, which caused bad feelings between the studio and its top star. In order to teach him a lesson, Mayer lent him to Columbia Pictures, then a poverty-row studio, to make a comedy. The movie, *Frank Capra's* masterpiece *It Happened One Night (1934),* swept the Academy Awards the next year and brought Gable his only Oscar.
From this point on, Gable's acting career flourished.
In 1935 he starred in The Call of the Wild with *Loretta Young*, with whom he had an affair (resulting in the birth of a daughter, *Judy Lewis* ).
In order to hide that she and Gable had an illegitimate child, fearing that it would ruin both of their careers, Loretta Young secretly gave birth to her daughter Judy Lewis while pretending she was vacationing in Europe. When she returned to Hollywood, she claimed that Judy was adopted. Gable met Judy only once when she was a teenager.
Gable and Ria finally divorced in March 4, 1939. In *March 29, 1939*, 38 year old Clark married perhaps the only "true love" of his life, 31 year old *Carole Lombard* (a woman 7 years his junior). She called him "Pa" and he called her "Ma."
They were married less than 3 years, but, according to Clark, they were the happiest of his entire life.
Later in that same year Gable starred in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Gable's standing only continued to increase. And the rest, as they say, is Movie History.
*Given the quality of cosmetic dentistry, and the state of oral hygiene of that (as well as our) day, and considering that Gable was a heavy drinker and smoker; it's no surprise that rumors of his "bad breath" abound. No doubt, some of his leading ladies were repulsed during those intimate scenes.*
*None-the-less, Gable remained quite the ladies man, both on and off screen, for the remainder of his life.*
*Gable Trivia*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Gable
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000022/bio
http://www.historyonfilm.com/actors/clark-gable.htm
*Carole Lombard* was the former wife of Gable's friend, *William Powell* (married from 1931-1933, divorced).
And William Powell's great love of his life was *Jean Harlow* (born March 3, 1911, died June 7, 1937).
Harlow was 26 years old when she died of cerebral edema, a side effect of renal failure.
In March 29, 1939, Clark married his third wife, *Carole Lombard*, but tragedy struck in January 16, 1942 when the plane in which Carole and her mother were flying crashed into Table Rock Mountain, Nevada, killing them both. Clark then volunteered to be drafted and served in Europe for several years. After the war he continued with his film career and married *Silvia Ashley*, the widow of *Douglas Fairbanks*, in 1949. Unfortunately this marriage was short-lived and they divorced in 1952.
Gable's fourth wife, *Sylvia Ashley*, was born *Edith Louise Sylvia Hawkes* in 1904. She was the widow of *Douglas Fairbanks*. Her first husband was Lord Anthony Ashley (they divorced November 28, 1934), her third was Lord Stanley of Alderney, *her fourth was Clark Gable (married to Gable from December 20, 1949 - 21 April 1952),* and her fifth was Prince Dimitri Djordjadze (whom she married in 1954 and stayed married to until her death). She died June 29, 1977. Her grave stone refers to her as "Princess Sylvia Djordjadze."
In 1932-33, Gable also had an affair with *Joan Crawford*, when she was estranged to her husband at the time, *Douglas Fairbanks, Jr*.
In 1952 Gable's fifth wife and former sweetheart, *Kay Williams*, divorced her previous husband, *Adolph Spreckels Jr.,* heir to the Spreckels Sugar fortune. In the divorce papers she alleged that he beat her with one of her slippers.
In July 1955 Clark married his fifth and last wife, *Kathleen Williams Spreckles* (a.k.a. *Kay Williams* ) and became stepfather to her two children, Joan and Adolph ("Bunker") Spreckels III.
On November 16, 1959, Gable became a grandfather when *Judy Lewis*, his daughter with *Loretta Young*, gave birth to a daughter, *Maria*.
In *1960*, Gable's wife Kay discovered that she was expecting their first child. In early November 1960, he had just completed filming _The Misfits_ (1961), when he suffered a heart attack, and died later that month.
Gable was buried shortly afterwards in the shrine that he had built for *Carole Lombard* and her mother when they died. In March 1961, *Kay Gable* gave birth to a boy whom she named *John Clark Gable* after his father.
When Clark was born he was mistakenly listed as a female on his birth certificate.
Gable was dyslexic, a fact which didn't emerge until several years after his death.
Despite his dyslexia, Gable became an avid reader. He would never allow himself to be photographed reading on film sets, fearing it would undermine his macho screen image.
Gable and then future wife *Carole Lombard* first met in late *1924* while working as extras on the set of _Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ_ (1925). They would make three films together as extras, Ben-Hur, _The Johnstown Flood_ (1926) and _The Plastic Age_ (1925) and star together in _No Man of Her Own_ (1932), but not become romantically attached until 1936.
In order to expedite divorce from his second wife Ria in order to marry Carole Lombard, Gable paid his ex-wife a $500,000 settlement in 1939, nearly everything he had at the time.
Originally the image of Gable as an outdoors man was an invention of *Howard Strickland*, MGM studio?s publicity manager, designed to bolster his masculine screen image during the early 1930s. However, Gable soon discovered that he enjoyed hunting, shooting and fishing, so the image swiftly became the reality.
Enlisting after the death of his wife, Carole Lombard, Gable served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II making training films. He also trained as an aerial gunner, and flew 5 combat missions with the 8th Air Force's 351st Bombardment Group (Heavy) while making his films and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal.
*Adolf Hitler* esteemed the film star above all other actors, and during the war offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and return Gable, who had enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was flying combat missions over Germany, unscathed to him.
Although discharged from the US air force early in 1944, he refused to make another movie until the war had ended.
Gable reportedly had a fear of flying, and made all long journeys across America by train.
Gable's last film, _The Misfits_ (1961), was also the final film for his co-star *Marilyn Monroe*.
At the time of his death, Gable's gun collection was valued at half a million dollars. He had a special gun room in his house filled with gold-inlaid revolvers, shotguns and rifles.
Gable was a conservative Republican, although his third wife *Carole Lombard*, a liberal Democrat, encouraged him to support President *Franklin Delano Roosevelt's* New Deal reforms.
In February 1952 Gable addressed a televised rally at Madison Square Gardens in New York in support of the Republican candidate *Dwight D. Eisenhower*, and a few days before his death he voted by post for *Richard Nixon* in the 1960 presidential election.
Gable was a staunch anti-communist and a firm believer in military intervention.
In the 1950s Gable joined *Walt Disney, John Wayne, James Stewart* and other politically conservative entertainers to "assist" the House Un-American Activities Committee in its efforts to find alleged Communist infiltration in the film industry, during Senator *Joe McCarthy's* "reign of terror" and Hollywood "witch hunt."
Gable was seriously considered to play Tarzan in _Tarzan the Ape Man_ (1932), but he was deemed an unathletic unknown and *Johnny Weissmuller* was chosen instead.
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 9, 2011 1:37 AM
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*ILoveGinger*
*Who is Leonard Maltin and why should his opinion be allowed to cheapen many WONDERFUL films each day that he, for reasons known only to himself, apparently didn't like? It seems TCM is doing a disservice to their own lineup.*
*FredCDobbs*
*We now have to click to get the one sentence synopisis, and when we do that, his idiotic review also appears. I am not interested in what he, personally, likes or dislikes.*
*Swithin*
*Maltin just does not appreciate these films. He writes for a "general" audience. We are not a general audience. Maltin's reviews have a place in a book, or on his own website, but not on the TCM site*
*Stephan55 (from another thread)*
*When I look on the schedule all I really want to see is the films title, date of release, how long it is, if it's color or B&W, Letterbox, or not, the time (in my time zone) that it's playing, the director, 3-4 main actors/actresses, and a brief, 1-2 sentence, synopsis.*
*If that stimulates me I want a simple click on the title to allow more in depth info from the TCM database, such as a full synopsis, and well delineated categories with producers, screenwriters, composers, etc. and a full list of all the actors with their character names.*
*And whether this film is playing again in the next 3 mos, and if so, the date and time.*
*If there is then an option to read professional critic reviews, or better yet member reviews, great;*
*But what I don't want in a TCM classic movie schedule is some unsolicited movie critic telling me that a movie that I may never have seen before is not worthy of my attention, based upon his opinion. That is something I'd rather learn for myself without some tainted preconception.*
*fxreyman said: (in another thread)*
*But in the back of my mind I am thinking that this (Leonard Maltin) is a precursor to the day that Robert Osborne decides to step down and TCM does not want to go scrambling for another host.*
*My response, in another thread*
*You've brought something up that I really don't like to dwell upon, but I have thought about.*
*I've grown to really love Robert Osborne's congenial presence and rather enlightening if somewhat benign comments on the movies that he presents. He seldom opinionates unless he has a guest host or it's an "essential" movie and he trades personal observations with Alex Baldwin. And when he does offer his personal opinion he delicately stays away from negative inferences treading a balance of respect and optimism. Even if I think the movie is a stinker, and that he must be speaking tongue in cheek, He usually says something that makes me see things from a different perspective, and I really, really like that about him.*
*IF Mr. Maltin could keep his less than flattering 2 star opinions to himself, and just enlightened us with trivia and facts, he likely would make an excellent host for TCM.*
*However, I've been carefully watching and listening to Ben Mankiwicz ever since he came on board. He's not the same flippantly cocky kid that I sometimes saw when he started.*
*Ben is maturing nicely and I find that I'm enjoying his weekend intros and exit commentary just as much as I do Roberts.*
*If Mr. Osborn can hang with us for a few more years, or as long as he can, I think that having an already familiar Ben slip into primetime would be a very good fit that most of us would appreciate and accept far more easily than a "stranger," no matter how knowledgable they may be.*
*Just my opinion, on something that I hope doesn't happen for a very long, long time.*
I personally like those brief, informative intros & end comments from Mr. O & Mr. M when they are filled with tidbits of background information that make the movie more interesting, or allow me an opportunity to gain a greater appreciation of some aspect of it.
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That's okay Fred, I know that you are peddling your **** off on that stationary bike keeping the batteries charged so you can watch!
BTW how are those solar panels on your roof and backyard wind turbine set-up working out?
Are they producing enough surplus H2 to keep your fuel cell back-ups running for nighttime & when the wind isn't blowing
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*misswonderly*
*I've read The Red Badge of Courage, but fell asleep the one time I tried to watch the film of it. I don't blame the movie, though. I'll give it another shot ( no pun intended.)*
I always loved John Huston's rendition of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage (1951).
I know that the novel was a very quick read, but felt at 69 minutes that the film was way too short.
I think I remember reading somewhere that the original film was much longer but was a casualty of severe re-edited and the missing footage is now lost. Being both the screenwriter & director I bet John Huston was really **** about that. And we'll likely never get to see what we missed.
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 6, 2011 10:20 PM
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*cinemafan*
*If we had adequate communication with someone in charge, or directions on how to be more productive - that would be immensely helpful.*
Check several posts down, or look here
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*but things change I guess..nan10*
Yes and too often these days it's not for the better!
*Frank-------Ohio*
*But I would not fell so all alone Everybody must get stoned....*
Bobby, where are you when we need you?
Now I feel like just getting stoned....
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*kingrat & finance*
I recorded most of the Ray Milland movies played that night, so far I've watched The Crystal Ball (Goddard & Milland always seem to make a great pairing), and re-watched The Major And The Minor, another Billy Wilder hit!
Have yet to watch Irene, The Bachelor Father, & A Woman of Distinction, but looking forward to it.
A trippy little Ray Milland film that really added to my cold war paronia was Panic in the Year Zero (released July 5, 1962) also directed by Ray Milland. It was low budget but bit me like a bulldog.
And then came the Cuban Missle Crisis that October....
Unfortunately that movie is still as relevant today as it was when I first saw it from the backseat at a drive-in.
I also liked Milland in some of his offbeat roles like Dr. Xavier in X: The Man with the X Ray Eyes (1963) Directed by Roger Corman. It made me think about possibilities vs consequences....
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*For me, the main thing is the schedules. The monthly schedule needs to be as it was, with synopses visible w/o clicking, and printing on fewer pages, as they used to do. Sure, I know there are lots of other issues, but the monthly schedule is the most important.*
AGREED!
But I would also immediately include restoring the 3 month MONTH schedule.
Also the movie database link with the information intelligently categorically arranged as before. So one could easily find producers, screen writers, composers, etc, without having to search through a homogenous blend.
Also, the abilty to easily see if a movie is programed to play in the next 3 months. And if so, the ability to be easily reminded by email for any or all showings.
Also, also, also, also, also,.........also......
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 5, 2011 10:22 PM
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*Perhaps if an anti-hero, and an anti-ant-hero met, they would have all their matter converted into energy, in a huge filmic explosion...*
And then we'd have this DeMille epic Reap The Wild Wind...
LOL
Very funny analogy, you like science too!
Matter vs Anti Matter, Dark Matter vs Dark Energy! Inner Space vs Outer Space, Expanding vs Contracting universe, or a combination of both, or neither!
I also like Carl Sagan
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 5, 2011 10:16 PM
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*To me, an anti-hero is a bad guy who does good.*
Likewise, and I also consider the term apropo for a good guy who does bad.
However in the end, Wayne kinda-sorta does fit your "anti-hero" definition, as he was more of a bad guy going down. But has a change of heart and does good, in the end.
It is a pretty subjective, evolving term with no clear concrete definition. Sort of "grey" (neither white, nor black, but a blend of both).
But I do agree with you. Wayne played a "regular" guy, neither really good, nor really bad, but an emotionally frail and complex person, capable of making mistakes with severe consequences.
This was a "coming of age" film for me, as I was beginning to grasp these concepts and possibilities. It was also the first film that I saw where John Wayne died. "Bad" guys died, "Good" guys lived, that was the "code" of Hollywood. And John Wayne had always (up until that time) clearly been a "good" guy, to me.
What a shock for an impressionable, young, fatherless, latchkey boy. My father figures were my movie heros. I wanted to grow up and be like them. And in those days a lot of the older movies I saw followed the "morals clause." But for me, for the first time, Wayne was playing this complex, very "human" character.
When I say railroaded, I meant that the first sinking was not Waynes fault, none-the-less he was blamed for it. He had people both for and against him, but because of the perceived conflicted triangle between himself, Paulette Goddard & Ray Milland, it was easy for him to believe that Milland was going to further railroad him. This was of course in his mind, and we (the audience) could see that he was mistaken, but the end result was his pursuasion to join the dark side and reap the foul reward of becoming what he thought he'd already been judged guilty of being.
Pretty complex plot for a kid to grasp. And when I watch it again this month (lord willing) I may be taken back to that innocence of youth when good was good, and bad was bad, and Wayne was neither, ...and both....
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 5, 2011 9:52 PM
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*my favorite Wayne film, but he's no anti-hero, he's a normal guy turned villain, because he didn't trust his friends.*
Well, I first saw Reap the Wild Wind when I was a kid, and I was (and still am) a big John Wayne fan. As a kid I found the role John Wayne played in this film as complex and not the clear good guy vs bad guy as were most of his earlier roles.
Wayne starts out as a "good guy," But is railroaded, When he thinks he is being further railroaded he believes Massey and joins the dark side. I hated that because as the viewer I could see what was happening and kept yelling no, don't believe him, stay with the "force" (or words to that effect).
But Wayne goes along and wrecks the Southern Cross. Good guy turned bad = anti-hero.
For a moment we can see the turmoil going through his head, let Ray Milland drown with the evidence, and I'm home free...
But at the last minute he has a change of heart which costs him his life. Hero Again! yeah, but I hated seeing that water fill his helmet.
Deja vu in Wake of The Red Witch.
Wikipedia: In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis. Some consider the word's meaning to be sufficiently broad as to additionally encompass the antagonist who (in contrast to the archetypal villain) elicits considerable sympathy or admiration....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihero
BTW, of all the John Wayne films that I really like, if I were to choose only one as his best, IMO it would be The Searchers. Again he plays another kinda-sorta anti-hero type.
These were the films that helped me grow and understand that people aren't white & black, all good, or all bad, but many shades of grey,
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 5, 2011 8:56 PM
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*Well, this website upgrade at least puts the lie to what the Alaskan woman claims.....*
For a split second I thought you were going to mention that other Alaskan woman...
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*"The Thing with Two Heads" (1973)...whoa!*
White biggot's head (Ray Milland) is transplanted on the body of 'Rosey' Grier.
...Interesting concept, entertaining to watch.
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*An idea whose time has come*
*?There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come!?*
The United States, which represents about 5% of the worlds population, presently consumes 25% of the worlds petroleum output.
We cannot, and MUST NOT, continue this irresponsible and unsustainable rate of consumption.
We MUST develop an economy based upon sustainable and environmentally sound sources of energy ( NOT nuclear fission).
We MUST implement existing, and develop ever more, clean energy technologies ( Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Tidal, Non-food competing Biofuels, FUSION, Fuel Cells & H2 transportable fuel, etc., etc.)
and WE MUST DO SO NOW!
Tomorrow may be too late.
Most of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are not friendly to the United States.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez stated, at the 2006 Caracas OPEC meeting, that they openly expect to see the continued decline of the US dollar and the fall of the US economy within this century.
They see our destiny as an "open tomb" and look forward to the day when we will be buried within it.
They may be right, if we don't change our ways, and do so soon!
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Everytime I hear the TCM (channel) commentor say, "If you want to know more about this program vist the TCM website...check the schedule..." yada, yada, yada...
It makes me want to puke!
There appears to be absolutely no real connection between those TCM personnel promoting this now defunct site, and those that actually use it!
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*PLAYING ON TCM: TUESDAY 19 April, 2011 at 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM (EASTERN TIME)*
NOTE: Be sure monitor the "schedule" for errors or program changes.
*TWO of my FAVORITE Ray Milland period pieces: Kitty & Reap The Wild Wind*
Note: I think this may be the second time that Kitty has been shown on TCM in perhaps 3-4 or more years. I can't remember ever seeing Reap The Wild Wind on TCM (might be a premier for them?)
*8:00 PM EASTERN TIME*
*Kitty (1945)*
Nominated for an oscar for Best Art Direction.
Full screen B&W
103 mins.
Produced by: Mitchell Leisen
Directed by: Mitchell Leisen
Screenplay By: Karl Tunberg, Darrell Ware
Based on the novel By: Rosamond Marshall
Music by: Victor Young
MAIN CAST: Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, Patric Knowles, XLNT cast of Great Supporting character actors including: Constance Collier, Cecil Kellaway, Reginald Owen, Dennis Hoey, Sara Allgood, and many more.
One of many and one of the best adaptive interpretations of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.
Paulette Goddard is an 18th century London Rags to Riches ( Eliza Doolittle ) guttersnipe, molded into the image of a "great" Lady by rascally rogue Ray Milland ( Mr. Higgins ).
Wikipedia Tidbit: To acquire a Cockney accent as Kitty, Paulette Goddard shared a room with the mother of actress Ida Lupino, who had quite a thick one for a time, and learned diction from Constance Collier. Upon seeing this film, the director Jean Renoir decided to cast Goddard in his film The Diary of a Chambermaid.
*10:00 PM EASTERN TIME*
*Reap the Wild Wind (1942)*
Nominated for 3 oscars (Art Direction, Cinematography) winning Best Special Effects
Full screen Color
123 mins.
Produced by: Cecil B. DeMille
Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Screenplay By: Alan LeMay, Jesse Lasky Jr., Charles Bennett, Jeanie Macpherson
Based on the novel By: Thelma Strabel
Music by: Victor Young
MAIN CAST: Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward, Lynne Overman, Charles Bickford, With a host of great supporting character actors including: Louise Beavers, Hedda Hopper, Victor Kilian, Oscar Polk, James Flavin, Milburn Stone (Doc from "Gunsmoke"),
Great action film as only DeMille could do it.
1840's America is stretching it's commerce muscles and wooden ships powered by sail & early steam are manned by iron men and threatened by pirate wreckers.
Ray Milland and John Wayne (in one of his first anti-hero roles) vie for the same gorgeous lady: Paulette Goddard.
Some of my favorite action scenes: Milland, Wayne & Goddard team up to beat the gang hired to shanghai them and end up selling them to the whaling captain instead.
Wayne and Milland battle a giant squid.
The Southern Cross striking the reef, and later goes to the bottom, during the squall.
Tidbit: Ray Milland reportedly blamed the hair curling process used when making this film as responsible for his "premature" male pattern baldness.
Edited by: Stephan55 on Apr 5, 2011 7:46 PM
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*Kinokima,*
I like your list and have actually seen (and enjoyed) most of the films in it.
*I actually prefer the Disney Version (guilty look)*
I saw the Disney animated version before I saw the earlier French one.
I really enjoy most of the Disney productions, especially their animated movies (I've never grown out of that) but when I saw Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete (1946) I was impressed by how many of the scenes were staged so much alike. ie the candlesticks, etc.
Granted they were both using the same source "Fairy Tale" but it appeared to me as if the Disney animators used La Belle et la Bete as the inspiration for many of their scenes.
I was further amazed when I considered that La Belle et la Bete was produced so soon after that horribly devestating war and Cocteau had to be very creative to compensate for what he lacked in money and material, etc. I think he pulled it off beautifully, and for me ( King Kong (1933) aside) La Belle et la Bete is the definitive rendition of Beauty and the Beast.
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*For what its worth you get my vote!*
Unfortunely I seriously doubt that those with the power are actually watching/using these boards.
If they are then they are ignoring us.
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End of round one, round two coming up shortly!
I'm really enjoying this!
Thanks again, Fred, for the heads up!
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Man, thanks *cody1949* for bringing this up.
I saw the 1949 original The Blue Lagoon decades ago, well before the Brook Shields remake.
In fact, when I saw that second version I had a sense of deja vu.
I surely would like to see the Jean Simmons version again, at least once before I die.
I've not been able to locate it anywhere to rent or buy, so if TCM has it, I sure wish they'd show it.
Leonard Maltin Reviews - Why?
in General Discussions
Posted
I think we (most of us that watch TCM) know that Robert Osborne is reading a script from a screen during his intro and exit commentary. He is not being spontaneous, though he does a pretty good job of acting.
It is prerecorded and though he may have seen each of those movies that he presents, he is not watching them along with his audiance.
I'm sure the script writers do a pretty good job of keeping the lines within Roberts character, and if there are factual inaccuracies, he may not catch them until after he's read them out loud in front of the monitor.
He appears most spontaneously himself during his guest interviews, or with his Alex Baldwin banter during the Essentials, but they may have rehearsed that as well...
He presents an affable, congenial manner that I find pleasant.
He is a flawed individual, as we all are, but he has become, to a great extent, the evening face of TCM. And I admit that though I enjoy a good TCM movie most anytime of the day, I particularly look forward to those weekend and evening movie trivia tidbits from Ben and Robert.