Stephen444

I don't know how Judy Garland became the focus of the comments here. My point is that there are many films out there that we never see or see enough. What we do get is an abundance of obscure titles ( ex. silent films) and far too many conventional ones (ex.John Wayne). I'm not trashing obscure or conventional subjects but show us something a little off center. You want a cowboy movie...how about "MaCabe & Mrs. Miller or "Buffalo Bill and the Indians". Both of these happen to be Robert Altman films but I'm sure there are other titles and directors that can be added to this list.

"As this month's theme is not exactly my preferences I think it is great that they aired the silent movies they did last week. I can't imagine where else anyone would get a chance to view them." I'm all for preservation and experiencing the history of film and history through film. Unfortunately I must admit that I cannot sit through a silent film. Maybe because I'm from the first TV generation. Perhaps if I had gone to see a silent film in a theater when I was in college I would feel differently but as it is when I see those captions and no sound I run for the hills. I have the same reaction that Howard Hughes had when sound was developed. Just shoot the film over again with sound.

B o o r r i n g I guess I should be more receptive to obscure themes like Asian detectives and silent films but I can't fake it..it's not what I want to see and I'm sure it's not what others are looking for. And of course you have the other extreme featuring never ending offerings of John Wayne etc. etc. All I'm saying is I am not bothering to watch many of the current offerings in prime time on tcm. I prefer tapes and dvds.

My suggestion is to play Charlie Chan movies during the day and feature Judy Garland during prime time. In other words switch the order of what they did today on tcm. On many nights I cringe at the offerings in prime time. I don't know about everyone else but I think the prime time programming at tcm leaves much to be desired.

Yes, I would agree that this is an excellent film. Not because it is patriotic. That is one part of the movie and I think you do feel uplifted and proud of our country watching it but there are so many other human dramas at work here. I think the human aspects far outweigh love of country.

You will find that "Rosemary's Baby" follows the book almost to the point of the book being a screenplay for the movie. I enjoyed both.

"By the early 1970s, most of the studios had changed ownership and were under the care and handling of such corporations as Gulf-Western (Paramount), Kinney (WBros), etc." Yes, and we know how creative corporations can be. That's why when they mention films on the TV networks and even Public Broadcasting all they can dwell on is how much a movie earned in a week.

I'm not familiar with that author but I have a book by Lorraine B. Diehl from American Heritage Press, 1985. The title is "The Late Great Pennsylvania Station". It's a fascinating book. I would love to see someone make a documentary on the history of the building and it's eventual demise. It's worth studying the failures of preservation along with the successful efforts.

It's Pennsylvania Station that is portrayed in the movie. The historic Grand Central was in part preserved thorugh the efforts of Jackie Kennedy. No such luck for Pennsylvania Station.

Yes, the sets are remarkable recreations. I think some shots are of the actual station in New York although I'm not sure. Recreation or not it is modeled after the original Pennsylvania Station which looked to be awe inspiring and worthy as a gateway to a great American city rather then the hole in the ground that it is today.

I have always enjoyed this movie. I missed it today since it was scheduled during the day but I have seen it several times. I agree that Minelli knows how to make a powerful romantic movie. I guess you could say that he specializes in romance (chick) movies but his films are more substantive then sentimentality. There are numerous poignant elements in this movie. Judy Garland and Robert Walker were to die before their time. The death of Pennsylvania Station in New York as it existed in 1945. The beautiful architecture was demolished in the early 60s leaving only the underground part of the station. The romance of separation caused by the war. I think all of these elements, and more, combined to make this a powerful romantic story. It's interesting to compare Robert Walker in this movie to the similar part that he played in "Since You Went Away" 1944 along with his then current wife Jennifer Jones. I think that he responded with a better performance in The Clock then in this movie. Perhaps because he and Jennifer were separating when they made that movie.

Liz Taylor, most beautiful and most talented Actress.

Let's get serious. One of my favorite (scariest) films from the 50s was "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". I still find this film disturbing. No camp sensibility here. The emergence of bland technological suburban America is effectively expressed in this film....The vague feeling that someone you know not being the person you have known...people becoming robotic in their actions...no feelings...hey we are describing a contemporary America that began in the 50s and has continued to evolve. Seed pods, cloning...these things are too much alike to be joked about....Their here! I do like some things about the 50s. I listen to a lot of 50s music in the car (it calms me down).

A different medium but one of my favorite episodes of the Twilight Zone was "The Hitchhiker" staring Inger Stevens. This was the episode where she meets "Death" on the side of the road. She commited suicide at a young age which always made this episode even more disturbing.

I wonder why you don't see it on tv. I have an old recording it it that I made back in the early 90s when I subscribed to the premium channels. I believe I recorded it on Cinemax. I don't think that TCM has ever played it and you never see it programmed on the regular channels but then who even bothers to look there since they censor everything under the sun that they do play.

They did a good job. I can't tell when I'm looking at the stand in. It's not like the crude but interesting stand-ins used for Gene Harlow in Saratoga.

The patriotic fervor and the inability of people to speak up against it portrayed in this movie is also to be found in the world today.

It's hard to pick out the scenes where someone is standing in for Natalie Wood. I think the ending is a bit silly. Probably because she wasn't available to finish the film as it should have been filmed. The first half of the movie is very powerful. The last third of the movie that is devoted to the quest for the death tape of Lilian is not too interesting although the scene where Natalie is trying to bring Christopher Walken back from Lilian's death experience is very creepy keeping in mind that Natalie would soon be dead if she wasn't already so. Is that a double in that scene. It looks like her to me but I'm not sure. Anyone see the similarity of the psychotic tape made by the military to waterboarding?? It's all about mind control.

I couldn't find any other messages about this movie but it is well worth watching. It's Natalie Wood's last movie. It was mostly filmed in 1981 prior to Woods death but wasn't released until 1983 because of fighting over whether it should even be released between the director (Trumball) and studio executives. This movie impresses me in the same way that "2001 A Space Odyssey" does in regard to the way the technology holds up today. I can still buy into the look of alot of the spaceship hardware in 2001. In Brainstorm it is more about the sophistication of the idea...creating a machine that records a person's feelings then another person is able to play the recording through a headphone set that allows them to experience how the recorded person feels ( a technological empathy machine).

Yes, that's when I saw it. This is a very interesting film. The similarities to the real sniper in Texas that shot all of the people from a tower at a University in Texas in the early 60s is spooky. Like him the main character is all American in appearance. I think that this kind of murder character is the most interesting. Someone who is normal looking and even attractive ..ie Ted Bundy. It was also campy with the appearance of Boris Karloff. I understand that Bodonovich had to write a part in his movie for Karloff in order to make the film.

I agree, I am criticizing the best of cable's regular lineup. There are certainly many good things to be said for TCM compared to what cable has devolved into. Uncensored and non commercial repeats are certainly more interesting then anything else out there unless you want to pay for the premium channels. I hope my comments are taken as positive criticism.

A few movies that I would like to see again or for the first time on tcm... The Clock - George Cukor Targets - Peter Bodonovich Images - Robert Altman McCabe and Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman

Yeah, I think it's similar to the kind of thought process that goes into the creation of Reality shows on TV compared to the creation of creative programming, which requires paying people to write and to act etc. TCM isn't at that level but some critical comments on their programming is definitely justified.

Oh and don't forget the group of movies from the other night ..all with the number 7 in them, fascinating!

I am also interested more generally in history and how these movies relate to the events that happened at the time they were made. For example all the movies that debuted in 1939....Gone With The Wind, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Women, The Wizard of Oz and other major films from that one year. I find it fascinating that at a time in history, when the world was in extreme turmoil...the Depression, Hitler, we had one of the most productive periods of creativity in filmmaking. Hey..tcm is so interested in themes how about relating a particular year to the movies that were made in that year. It sure works for 1939. I don't know that the same could be said for the 21rst century.