marshald25

How about HIGH PRESSURE (1932) or PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 (1933) with William Powell? THE DARK HOUSE (1932) or THE WORKING MAN (1933) with Bette Davis? WINNER TAKE ALL (1932) or HARD TO HANDLE (1933) with James Cagney? THE FAMOUS FERGUSON CASE (1932) or BLONDIE JOHNSON (1933) with Joan Blondell? MANDALAY (1934) or DR. MONICA (1934) with Kay Francis? Haven't seen these in years!

I just wish TCM would strike a deal with Universal and air some of the early 1930s Paramounts. When TCM picks a Star of the Month who was a contract player at Paramount in the early 30s, like Cary Grant or Claudette Colbert, it's really too bad TCM doesn't use that as an opportunity to show those early films. Would love to see THE BIG POND (1930) on TCM, Claudette's first movie!

It's just that the movies they are showing those nights have been shown numerous times in the past. It would have been nice for them to show something new to TCM.

With TCM having nights devoted to Ray Milland and Margaret Sullavan this month, it would have been nice if on one of those nights, they could have shown the 1936 Universal picture "Next Time We Love," starring Sullavan, Milland, and James Stewart. This film has rarely if ever been shown on TV. True TCM would have to go to the trouble of licensing it from Universal, but that shouldn't deter them. Is TCM getting lazy?

I pre-ordered my Grand Hotel DVD from www.dvdempire.com. It arrived 2/3. It's a fine DVD. The transfer is pretty good, the extras are fine. Maybe the making of documentary could have been a little longer; it's only 11 minutes. The Vitaphone short spoofing Grand Hotel was a hoot! I've also watched the Mutiny on the Bounty DVD. Another fine transfer, but this DVD is in need of more extras. An audio commentary on the film would have been nice; they put one on the 1932 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after all!

"Bringing Up Baby" and "A King in New York" are both getting two airings this week. It used to be months before TCM showed the same movie again; now it's just a matter of days?!

I love Genevieve Tobin! She was awesome in today's "The Goose and the Gander" (1935) and "Goodbye, Again" (1933) from a few weeks ago. I love her big blue eyes and bemused manner, sort of like a more dignified Una Merkel. Hope TCM honors Genevieve one day with a marathon of her movies (her birthday is 11/29). She certainly deserves it! I also love Claire Dodd! It was great seeing Dodd and Tobin together in "The Goose and the Gander."

The guy who owned the book store in "Born to Be Bad" was none other than Henry Travers, Clarence from "It's a Wonderful Life"! I've been catching up on my tapes and just saw a Warren William pre-code, "Goodbye Again" from 1933! This movie was great! Genevieve Tobin really stole the movie for me; she was really sexy! (Joan Blondell wasn't a push-over either). I loved the sexual implications! This morning I watched the remake of this film, 1941's "Honeymoon for Three." It just wasn't the same without the sex! For me, Ann Sheridan was the only reason to watch the inferior re-make.

I just saw, from Fox DVD, the 1934 film Born to be Bad with Loretta Young and Cary Grant. Boy, is Loretta bad in this film!! This is perhaps her best naughty pre-code role! I highly recommend picking it up. The transfer is good and it's only $10. If it sells, maybe Fox will put some of its other pre-codes on DVD. Maybe not, but you never know!!

For me, Jeanne Crain will always be one of the most beautiful women who ever lived. She will be missed.

I'm tempted to buy The Bat Whispers on Milestone DVD just to see Una in a lead role!

It's great seeing TCM honor Una's birthday with a day of her films! I love Una! She was pretty, funny, a great talent. Too bad she didn't get an opportunity to star in many films as the main female character. Seems like she always plays a friend.

TCM has the rights to air the entire RKO, MGM, and Warner Brothers library to 1948. A problem with TCM is that they rarely show lesser-known films that are outside of this package, stuff from Paramount, Columbia, Universal, and post-1948 Warner Brothers. Sure they license stuff like "Lawrence of Arabia" from Columbia, even "Trouble in Paradise" from Universal, which controls all the old Paramounts. But these movies are well-known and/or critically acclaimed. How about movies like "Home Before Dark," a 1958 Warner Brothers film starring Jean Simmons, movies that are good but a bit obscure? They don't seem to hold a chance of ever being shown on TCM. TCM would have to actively seek to license them, something that, from past history, they are unlikely to do..

The usual story, told again on the Treasure of the Sierra Madre DVD, is that Ann Sheridan has a brief cameo in the picture playing a streetwalker who catches Bogart's eye. There's even a still of her in costume. But looking at the scene, I've come to the conclusion that the actress who plays the streetwalker is not Ann Sheridan! The actress doesn't have Ann Sheridan's characteristic face; her cheekbones are too high, her eyebrows too looped. I suspect that a take was filmed with Ann Sheridan in the role but was latter dropped for the final version, where an unidentified Mexican girl was used instead. Does anyone who's seen the film agree? Is that really Ann Sheridan in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre???

February's schedule is disappointing. Apart from one or two, there aren't any rare films from the 30s or 40s. By "rare" I mean films that aren't on video and haven't been shown on the channel in over a year. Instead, it's the same old, same old..

I'm saddened to hear of the passing of Penny Singleton. She was great. She was a very beautiful actress and quite a talent. I hope TCM airs something of a tribute to her, perhaps airing her 1930 film "Good News"? Seeing some "Blondie" movies would be nice too, but I don't think TCM has the license to show them.

I saw BECKY SHARP, and Miriam was really good! That role was right up her alley. She looked marvelous in color; loved her blue outfits. I was surprised at how intimate one of her scenes with Frances Dee was. Miriam has her face pressed next to Dee's and gives her a casual peck on the lips! That's the sort of scene that should have been included in THESE THREE!

It's nice to see TCM give Miriam Hopkins a night, a Friday night no less! It's too bad they're not showing some of her rarer Paramount films though, stuff like THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE and 24 HOURS. I think Miriam's best performances came in THE SMILING LIEUTENANT and TROUBLE IN PARADISE. Lubitsch handled her great in those films. She wasn't a very subtle actress, and oftentimes she'd come across as being exaggerated and cold. I think Lubitsch's DESIGN FOR LIVING suffers from that, as do other films.

I saw a couple of Warren William films from 1935/36 that aired on TCM the past few months. All were of the one hour, B picture variety. And all weren't particularly that good. William didn't have much charisma or wit in any of them, but he did try in one or two. THE WIDOW FROM MONTE CARLO (1935), with Dolores Del Rio, was the worst of the lot. It was a total mis-mash, very poorly edited, with a charmless, cliched riddled plot. William doesn't show much here, but he is handicapped by the material. 5/10 THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS (1936) is a film I wanted to like but couldn't. I was deterred by the unneccesarily complicated plot, the lame jokes that are repeated over and over, the annoying second bananas, the scenes that go nowhere. William tries to be charming and appealing, but falls flat. This film really made me appreciate THE THIN MAN. I found Wini Shaw completely unappealing and a terrible actress, suprising since she seemed to have potential in THE GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935. The only plus of this film is that Clare Dodd got a decent amount of screen time, but then again she was basically playing the same scene over and over again, being annoyed at William for leaving her on her wedding night, and nevertheless helping him with his work. 6/10 DON'T BET ON BLONDES (1935) was the best of these films. Lot of funny scenes. It does seem to implode a little at the end though. William actually has a bit of charisma here, playing Odds Owen pretty well. Guy Kibbee is a hoot as an old Southerner wanting to rewrite the history of the Civil War. It's only too bad that Claire Dodd didn't get as much screen time. 7/10 Watching these three films, it's pretty understandable why William's star had faded by the mid-1930s. He didn't have the charisma or wit for a leading A player, not on the level of a William Powell or a James Cagney.

Is James Cagney, in disguise, really in the released version of this film? If so, where? I've tried, but couldn't find him.

I agree; it was a really good movie. I especially liked the subtle touches of director Max Ophuls in depicting Joan Bennett's family. It's a really strong criticism of the crass materialism and superficiality of the American family in general.

With James Mason being the Star of the Month, it's too bad TCM is not playing "The Reckless Moment" from 1949. Has TCM ever aired it before? It's a Columbia picture.

I wish TCM would show more 20s and 30s Paramount and Universal films. I would love to see more Paramounts with Clara Bow, Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Frederic March, Cary Grant, and Carole Lombard. I would also love to see Margaret Sullavan and Irene Dunne's Universal pictures. I wish TCM would pick a non-MGM or Warner Brother star as their "Star of the Month" for once!

As a lover of classic 30s films, it's disappointing that TCM chose Monday as the day to honor the late Gregory Peck, for originally scheduled were 4 "Gold Digger" films and 4 James Cagney films from the early 30s. I had been looking forward to seeing a few of these for months, in particular "Gold Diggers in Paris," "The Doorway to Hell" and "The Crowd Roars." *Sigh* Hope TCM reschedules these movies soon!