markfp2

The blame goes to Blake Edwards. In Truman Capote's original story the Mr. Yunioshi character has one brief appearance, at the beginning when Holly first rings his doorbell and he tells her she's got to stop forgetting her key. While he's mentioned a couple of times later on, he never is seen again. Capote didn't write him as buck-tooth stereotype with coke-bottle glasses. It's obvious that Edwards wanted Rooney in the film both for marquee value and to make it appear that it was much more of a light comedy than it was. Unfortunately, for Mickey, Edwards expansion of the character was done very poorly and, as somebody else pointed out, he was a professional actor and played it as directed.

If it's like other forums I go to, usually they try and keep things like politics and religion out of it and anything that might seem seem "offensive", "racist" or hurtful. Generally, as long as people use good judgement, there shouldn't be a problem.

Kind of reminds me of my early days as a TV film editor when we had to bleep out words like "damn" and "hell".

Well, it was somewhat of an ordeal for me to get back here "among the living" but I finally made it. Thank you to all the TCM folks who helped. Now lets see what I've been missing.

Times have changed, today we want to know everything about how films are made. Back in the days of early sound films people in the audience were so thrilled just by the fact that after decades of silent films they were actually hearing a movie they didn't give much thought or probably even cared how it was done.When they did find out something like how they made thunder it was like learning a magician's secret.

Not legally. If the show is still copyrighted permission must be granted. You can be sure that any professional organization that produces a "Porgy and Bess" performance is doing so with permission and paying for the rights.Even high school or community theater groups must do so. That said, be it "Porgy And Bess" or "The Phantom of The Opera", I'm sure there must be "bootleg" productions around. From what I've read, the issue with the Gershwin estate and "Porgy And Bess" isn't so much refusing the rights to do any production, just movie versions.

Another, that I'm pretty sure TCM has shown, is the British film A TOWN LIKE ALICE (1956) which stars Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch.

From what I've heard, the Gershwin estate, which controls the rights to PORGY AND BESS, is still seething from the 1959 film version and refuses any offers to do another film.

You hit the nail right on the head. Rights issues. TV rights and DVD rights are two separate things and often are controlled by different companies and because of that the DVD version may not be available to TCM. Keep in mind too that when TCM does obtain the rights to a certain film, it's often for a limited number of showing with in a specified time period and not an open ended contract so just because they've shown something a few years ago doesn't mean they still have the rights to it.

Lynn, I haven't seen the film in a very long time and actually had forgotten about Shaw. According to IMDb he was indeed one of the writers, but uncredited. Kino Video put out a set of the 14 films, but it was always way over my budget. However, I just checked their website [kinolorber.com] to see if it was still in print and not only do they sell it, but titles are available now individually, so you know what I'm going to do as soon as I finish this. Thanks for asking about it.

Sorry, but you're out of luck as both those films are readily available and GLEN OR GLENDA has even developed a cult following. As far as I'm concerned all films, good bad or indifferent, should be preserved because each, in there own way, is part of the history of the motion picture industry. I would never presume to call for the destruction of any film simply because I didn't like it. Still, with the limited resources available for film preservation, I understand how, every day, decisions have to be made as to what to preserve. I'm just glad I'm not the one that has to do it.

The rarely shown MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH (1975) directed by Arthur Hiller. It was part of the American Film Theater series of filmed versions of famous plays.

Welcome to the boards. It does happen, but depending on the title, distributor, availability and often with hard negotiations, it can take anywhere from months to years for TCM to get the broadcast rights to show a particular film. It's not as simple as picking up the phone and saying "send it." Still put in your suggestions, watch the schedules and someday you may be very surprised. Just remember that it's not possible for TCM to get every movie suggested. Good luck.

To me it's like going into a good friend's house, after a while, I just don't notice the living room decor anymore unless they do something big like get new furniture or repaint. But that's me, my wife, on the other hand, will spot the smallest detail that's been changed.

Since the first time I saw WAR OF THE WORLDS at age seven it's been my favorite sci-fi movie. Sure you can see the wires holding up the martian machines, but so what, by 1953 standards it was state-of-the art and that's how I judge it each every time I watch it. I can't stand the Tom Cruise version. Dakota Fanning's screams drive me up the wall. It's like hearing fingernails on a chalk board for two hours.

The close captioning is embedded in the digital copy of the movie sent to TCM by the distributor. TCM has no control of how it is presented or no way to adjust it.

My favorite brand has always been Panasonic, but I haven't been able to find another brand that will finalize a disc made on one of those. In more recent years, regardless of brand, most DVD recorders are made, usually in China, by the same large Japanese company, Funai Electronics. They either own the trademarks or do so under license for names such as Sylvania, Emerson, Magnavox, GE, RCA Philips and Toshiba. I've been told that since many of these have the exact same electronics, it's likely that some will finalize discs made on the others, but again it's pretty much hit or miss when it comes to finding one that will..

That's a problem that many people experience, but it's sometimes possible to finalize them on another recorder of the same brand especially the same model. No guarantee, it's just a matter of trial and error.

>TopBilled said: "But if TCM does not get ratings, I do not think I will include it in the survey. I would rather throw my support behind shows where the ratings count......." For the survey to be accurate, everybody has to be totally honest in reporting what they watch. So if you watch TCM, you should report that as such. Of course, many people don't because they don't want to admit that that their favorite show is "Trashy Housewives of Wala-Wala" or "The Search for Big Foot's Great Grandmother". or,whatever. It's much more accurate to have the little box that actually records what channel the TV is set to.

Nothing wrong with you're list, but you might want suggest it for 2015. It's highly likely that TCM had all the 2015 stars picked months ago and have been working on getting specific films.

I'm always amazed at the work of Anne Bauchens. She started cutting for DeMille in 1915 and was his editor on most (if not all) of his major films right up to his last, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in 1956. That's a pretty good track record.

This topic caused me to remember when a long-time projectionist in my hometown died his obituary began "On Monday, after fifty-five years in the projection booth, John Smith ran his final reel". Actually, I kind of liked that.

I don't know how it is in Detroit. but around here the wording of obits, especially those with, shall we say, "non-traditional" wording are the doing of the family or in some cases even the departed themselves. As I recall, a number of years ago, there was a prominent lady who had "transitioned" and left instructions that her obituary should list her nine cats as survivors, but not to mention her children.The executor of her estate did as instructed and the kids didn't find out until they read it in the paper. I suspect that there must have been quite a back-story to that one.

>Dargo2 said: WHOA! 120 FEET of snow a year, huh?! That's 120 INCHES not FEET. If it was feet, I'd be long gone from here.

>dargo2 said: "How's that whole "Lake-Effects" thing workin' for ya right about now, HUH?! Actually, it really depends where you live. I'm in Syracuse which is southeast of Lake Ontario and the worst of lake effect usually misses us. Our average annual snowfall is about 120", but that's mostly a few inches at a time over the course of the whole winter and is easy to deal with. I know that sounds a lot, but around here everybody is prepared for it. Even when we do take a big hit, our city does a great job of keeping the streets open and the airport rarely closes. The story is a bit different if you go about 40 miles north of here in what's called the "snow belt" where in just in the last couple of days they had over three feet and by the end of winter will likely have gotten well over 200". Add to that the frigid temperatures that went down to as low as -23 and it was brutal for them. We like to rib our downstate friends and say that when we get a foot of snow it's nothing more than a "minor inconvenience" but if they get four inches they call out the National Guard. Still, we understand how devastating it can be in parts of the country that never usually see snow. I was amazed at what was happening in Atlanta.