Capuchin

> {quote:title=countessdelave wrote:}{quote} > It took me a whittle down to my favorite four schedules but, in the long run, the winner of this Challenge is Capuchin. Wow! Thanks! I'm glad someone liked it. I was thinking this was my weakest schedule ever since I didn't do anything terribly clever as far as themes. I chose Garbo for SotM because, well, she's Garbo, and she's one of the few I could use on Sunday night to get the SotM night out of the way. I've read all the schedules, and you're all to be congratulated! There is an imposing array of talent and knowledge shown in them. And, of course, kingrat deserves praise for running a great challenge!

Program Notes for Capuchin's Schedule for 16 Dec 2012 to 22 Dec 2012 *Authors and Apocalypse* Everyone praises directors, but the really important ones are the authors -- it's their characters and plots which capture people's imaginations. Most people have never heard of Vera Caspary, but they'll find her novels, stories, and screenplays were the basis of their favorite movies. Alexandre Dumas p?re created many of the world's most memorable characters, from the grandest (the Count of Monte Cristo) to the most wretched (the man in the iron mask). Noel Coward brought the classic Brit into our lives. Jules Verne took us into space and to the bottom of the ocean. And, you can't mention writers who inspired characters without including the Bard of Avon. Mayan Apocalypse -- 21 Dec 12 Mankind's oldest story is of a great flood, so it was natural to begin a week of apocalypse movies with *Deluge.* Natural disasters, nuclear war, plagues, alien invasions, plant mutations, meteors . . . I think I've covered everything that can happen. We must then (on Saturday) think of the survivors. My Oscar picks are a little off centaur because I don't take the Oscars seriously. Dewey gave a wonderful performance, but he was snubbed by the academy just because he's metal and plastic instead of flesh and blood. How better to open a movie than tell people that politicians had finally solved the problem of urban blight? The question of which books you'd use to rebuild civilization is one worthy of contemplation. To do great things with very little, especially in costume design, deserves some kind of award. And there really should be recognition for the best monster of the year!

Capuchin's Schedule for 16 Dec 2012 to 22 Dec 2012 *Authors and Apocalypse* Sunday -- 16th Author/Screenwriter Vera Caspary 6:00 AM *Hooray for Love* ( 1935 ) Ann Sothern, Gene Raymond, Bill Robinson. Dir: Walter Lang, RKO, 72 mins 7:15 AM *Easy Living* ( 1937 ) Jean Arthur, Ray Milland, Edward Arnold. Dir: Mitchell Liesen, Paramount, 88 mins, P/S 8:45 AM *A Letter to Three Wives* ( 1948 ) Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern . Dir: Joseph L Mankiewicz, Fox, 103 mins, P/S 10:30 AM *Three Husbands* ( 1951 ) Eve Arden, Ruth Warrick, Vanessa Brown. Dir: Irving Reis, UA, 78 mins, P/S 12:00 PM *Give A Girl A Break* ( 1953 ) Marge & Gower Champion, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse. Dir: Stanley Donen, MGM, 82 mins 1:30 PM *The Blue Gardenia* ( 1953 ) Anne Baxter, Raymond Burr, Richard Conte. Dir: Fritz Lang, WB, 88 mins, P/S 3:00 PM *Les Girls* ( 1957 ) Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall. Dir: George Cukor, MGM, 114 mins 5:00 PM *Laura* ( 1944 ) Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb. Dir: Otto Preminger, Fox, 87 mins, Premiere - 1 6:30 PM *Out of the Blue* ( 1947 ) George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Ann Dvorak. Dir: Leigh Jason, Foy, 84 mins, Premiere - 2 SotM -- Greta Garbo 8:00 PM *Camille* ( 1936 ) Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore. Dir: George Cukor, MGM, 109 mins 10:00 PM *Grand Hotel* ( 1932 ) Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford. Dir: Edmund Goulding, MGM, 113 mins TCM Silent Sunday Night 12:00 AM *Wild Orchids* ( 1929 ) Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, Nils Asther. Dir: Sidney Franklin, MGM, 100 mins 1:45 AM *The Divine Woman* ( 1928 ) Garbo Clip, Lars Hanson, Lowell Sherman. Dir: Victor Sj?str?m, MGM, 9 mins TCM Imports 2:00 AM *The Saga of G?sta Berlings* ( 1924 ) Lars Hanson, Sven Scholander, Greta Garbo. Dir: Mauritz Stiller, Svensk, 183 mins, E 5:15 AM *The Divine Greta Garbo* ( 1990 ) Glenn Close. Dir: Susan F. Walker, Turner, 45 mins, P/S Monday -- 17th Author Alexandre Dumas p?re 6:00 AM *The Corsican Brothers* ( 1941 ) Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff. Dir: Gregory Ratoff, E. S. Prods, 111 mins, P/S 8:00 AM *The Count of Monte Cristo* ( 1934 ) Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern. Dir: Rowland V. Lee, E. S. Prods, 113 mins, P/S 10:00 AM *The Secret Of Monte Cristo* ( 1961 ) Rory Calhoun, John Gregson, Patricia Bredin. Dir: Robert S. Baker, Mid-Century, 96 mins, P/S 11:45 AM *Black Magic* ( 1949 ) Orson Welles, Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff. Dir: Gregory Ratoff, E. S. Prod, 105 mins, P/S 1:30 PM *The Brigand* ( 1952 ) Anthony Dexter, Jody Lawrence, Anthony Quinn. Dir: Phil Karlson, Columbia, 94 mins, P/S 3:15 PM *Mask of the Avenger* ( 1951 ) John Derek, Anthony Quinn, Jody Lawrance. Dir: Phil Karlson, Columbia, 83 mins, P/S 4:45 PM *The Three Musketeers* ( 1935 ) Walter Abel, Paul Lukas, Margot Grahame. Dir: Rowland V. Lee, RKO, 96 mins 6:30 PM *Die K?nigsloge* ( 1929 ) Alexander Moissi, Camilla Horn, Lew Hearn. Dir: Bryan Foy, WB, 76 mins Apocalypse I -- The Earth will Destroy Us 8:00 PM *Deluge* ( 1933 ) Peggy Shannon, Lois Wilson, Sidney Blackmer. Dir: Felix E. Feist, RKO, 70 mins 9:15 PM *Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea* ( 1961 ) Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden. Dir: Irwin Allen, Windsor, 107 mins, P/S 11:15 PM *The Night the World Exploded* ( 1957 ) Kathryn Grant, William Leslie, Tristram Coffin. Dir: Fred F. Sears, Columbia, 64 mins, Premiere -3 12:30 AM *The End of the World* ( 1916 ) Alf Blutecher, Johanne Fritz-Petersen, Olaf F?nss. Dir: August Blom, Nordisk Film, 77 mins, Premiere -4 2:00 AM *The Last Days Of Pompeii* ( 1935 ) Preston Foster, Alan Hale, Basil Rathbone. Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack, RKO, 96 mins 3:45 AM *Noah's Ark* ( 1928 ) Dolores Costello, George O'Brien, Noah Beery. Dir: Michael Curtiz, WB, 135 mins Tuesday -- 18th Author, actor, playwright Noel Coward 8:00 AM *Bitter Sweet* ( 1940 ) Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, George Sanders. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II, MGM, 93 mins 7:45 AM *Brief Encounter* ( 1945 ) Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway. Dir: David Lean, SG, 86 mins, P/S 9:15 AM *Design For Living* ( 1933 ) Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Gary Cooper. Dir: Ernst Lubitsch, Paramount, 90 mins, P/S 11:45 AM *In Which We Serve* ( 1942 ) Noel Coward, John Mills, Celia Johnson. Dir: Noel Coward, Two Cities, 115 mins, P/S 12:45 PM *Private Lives* ( 1931 ) Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Una Merkel. Dir: Sidney Franklin, MGM, 84 mins 2:15 PM *The Astonished Heart* ( 1949 ) Celia Johnson, Noel Coward, Margaret Leighton. Dir: Antony Darnborough, Gainsborough, 89 mins, P/S 3:45 PM *This Happy Breed* ( 1944 ) Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, John Mills. Dir: David Lean, Two Cities, 114 mins, P/S 5:45 PM *We Were Dancing* ( 1942 ) Norma Shearer, Melvyn Douglas, Gail Patrick. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard, MGM, 95 mins 7:30 PM *Now Playing* 30 mins Apocalypse II -- Someone will Push the Wrong Button 8:00 PM *Dr. Strangelove* ( 1963 ) Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn. Dir: Stanley Kubrick, Columbia, 93 mins, P/S 9:45 PM *Fail Safe* ( 1964 ) Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman. Dir: Sidney Lumet, Columbia, 112 mins, P/S 11:45 PM *The Bedford Incident* ( 1965 ) Sidney Poitier, Richard Widmark, Donald Sutherland. Dir: James B. Harris, Columbia, 102 mins, P/S 1:30 AM *Seven Days to Noon* ( 1950 ) Barry Jones, Andre Morell, Hugh Cross. Dir: John Boulting, LFP, 97 mins, P/S 3:15 AM *The Atomic City* ( 1952 ) Gene Barry, Lydia Clarke, Michael Moore. Dir: Jerry Hopper, Paramount, 85 mins, P/S 4:45 AM *Captain Scarface* ( 1953 ) Barton MacLane, Leif Erickson, Virginia Grey. Dir: Paul Guilfoyle, Lincoln, 72 mins, P/S Wednesday -- 19th Writer, visionary Jules Verne 6:00 AM *Around the World in Eighty Days* ( 1956 ) David Niven, Finlay Currie, Cantinflas. Dir: Michael Anderson, UA, 167 mins, P/S 9:00 AM *20,000 Leagues Under The Sea* ( 1954 ) Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas. Dir: Richard Fleischer, Disney, 127 mins, P/S 11:15 AM *The Mysterious Island* ( 1929 ) Lionel Barrymore, Jane Daly, Lloyd Hughes. Dir: Maurice Tourneur, MGM, 90 mins 12:45 PM *The Soldier and the Lady* ( 1937 ) Anton Walbrook, Elizabeth Allan, Margot Grahame. Dir: George Nichols Jr, RKO, 85 mins 2:15 PM *From The Earth To The Moon* ( 1958 ) Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, Henry Daniell. Dir: Byron Haskin, Waverly, 100 mins, P/S 4:00 PM *Master Of The World* ( 1961 ) Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, Henry Hull. Dir: William Witney, MGM, 104 mins 5:45 PM *Journey to the Center of the Earth* ( 1959 ) James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl. Dir: Henry Levin, Fox, 132 mins, Premiere -5 Apocalypse III -- The Sky is Falling! 8:00 PM *The Day The Sky Exploded* ( 1958 ) Paul Hubschmid, Fiorella Mari, Madeleine Fischer. Dir: Paolo Heusch, Lux, 82 mins, PD 9:30 PM *When Worlds Collide* ( 1951 ) Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen. Dir: Rudolph Mat?, Paramount, 83 mins, Premiere -6 11:00 PM *The Quatermass Xperiment* ( 1956 ) Brian Donlevy, Jack Warner, Richard Wordsworth. Dir: Val Guest, Hammer, 82 mins, P/S 12:30 AM *Quatermass 2* ( 1957 ) Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sid James. Dir: Val Guest, Hammer, 85 mins, Premiere -7 2:00 AM *It Came From Outer Space* ( 1953 ) Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake. Dir: Jack Arnold, Universal, 81 mins, P/S 3:30 AM *The Lost Missile* ( 1958 ) Robert Loggia, Ellen Parker, Phillip Pine. Dir: William Berke, UA, 70 mins, P/S 4:45 AM *Twelve to the Moon* ( 1960 ) Michi Kobi, Tom Conway, John Wengraf. Dir: David Bradley, Columbia, 74 mins, P/S Thursday -- 20th Shakespeare (of course) 6:00 AM *Kiss Me Kate* ( 1953 ) Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller. Dir: George Sidney, MGM, 110 mins 8:00 AM *Romeo And Juliet* ( 1936 ) Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore. Dir: George Cukor, MGM, 125 mins, 10:15 AM *A Midsummer Night's Dream* ( 1935 ) James Cagney, Dick Powell, Mickey Rooney. Dir: Max Reinhardt, WB, 143 mins, 12:45 PM *Hamlet* ( 1948 ) Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Jean Simmons. Dir: Laurence Olivier, Two Cities, 154 mins, P/S 3:30 PM *Henry V* ( 1944 ) Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks. Dir: Sir Laurence Olivier, Two Cities, 137 mins, P/S 6:00 PM *Throne of Blood* ( 1957 ) Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura. Dir: Akira Kurosawa, Toho, 110 mins, P/S Apocalypse IV -- They're Out to Get Us! 8:00 PM *The War Of The Worlds* ( 1953 ) Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne. Dir: George Pal, Paramount, 85 mins, P/S 9:30 PM *Teenagers From Outer Space* ( 1959 ) David Love, Dawn Bender, Bryan Grant. Dir: Tom Graeff, Graeff Prods, 86 mins, PD 11:00 PM *Plan 9 From Outer Space* ( 1959 ) Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira. Dir: Edward D. Wood Jr, Reynolds, 78 mins, P/S 12:30 AM *Killers from Space* ( 1954 ) Peter Graves, James Seay, Steve Pendleton. Dir: W. Lee Wilder, RKO, 71 mins, 1:45 AM *The X from Outer Space* ( 1967 ) Eiji Okada, Toshiya Wazaki, Peggy Neal. Dir: Kazui Nihonmatsu, Sh?chiku Eiga, 88 mins, P/S 3:15 AM *They Came From Beyond Space* ( 1967 ) Robert Hutton, Jennifer Jayne, Zia Mohyeddin. Dir: Freddie Francis, Amicus, 85 mins, PD 4:45 AM *The Man From Planet X* ( 1951 ) Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert. Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer, UA, 71 mins, P/S Friday -- 21st Apocalypse V -- With so many ways to be destroyed, it's surprising we're still around. 6:00 AM *End of the World* ( 1931 ) Abel Gance, Colette Darfeuil, Sylvie Gance. Dir: Abel Gance, L'?cran d'Art, 105 mins, Premiere -8 7:45 AM *I Married A Monster From Outer Space* ( 1958 ) Tom Tryon, Gloria Talbott, Peter Baldwin. Dir: Gene Fowler Jr, Universal, 78 mins, P/S 9:15 AM *The Phantom Planet* ( 1961 ) Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, Francis X. Bushman. Dir: William Marshall, Four Crown, 82 mins, PD 10:45 AM *The Invisible Ray* ( 1936 ) Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton. Dir: Lambert Hillyer, Universal, 79 mins, P/S 12:15 PM *The H-Man* ( 1958 ) Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata. Dir: Ishiro Honda, Toho, 79 mins, P/S 1:45 PM *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* ( 1956 ) Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones. Dir: Don Siegel, WWP, 80 mins, P/S 3:15 PM *Prince of Space* ( 1959 ) Tatsuo Umemiya, Ushio Skashi, Joji Oka. Dir: Eijir? Wakabayashi, Toei, 121 mins, Premiere -9 5:30 PM *Invisible Invaders* ( 1959 ) John Agar, Jean Byron, Robert Hutton. Dir: Edward L. Cahn, UA, 67 mins, P/S 6:45 PM *Phantom from Space* ( 1953 ) Ted Cooper, Tom Daly, Steve Acton. Dir: W. Lee Wilder, UA, 73 mins, Premiere -10 Apocalypse VI -- Alien Plant Alert! There's a Fungus Among Us 8:00 PM *The Thing From Another World* ( 1951 ) Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness. Dir: Christian Nyby, RKO, 87 mins, 9:45 PM *The Green Slime* ( 1969 ) Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel, Luciana Paluzzi. Dir: Kinji Fukasaku, MGM, 90 mins 11:15 PM *The Blob* ( 1958 ) Steve McQueen, Aneta Corseaut, Earl Rowe. Dir: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr, Paramount, 82 mins, P/S 12:45 AM *It! The Terror from Beyond Space* ( 1958 ) Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding. Dir: Edward L. Cahn, UA, 69 mins, P/S TCM Underground 2:00 AM *The Day of the Triffids* ( 1962 ) Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott. Dir: Steve Sekely, Allied Artists, 93 mins, E 3:45 AM *The Andromeda Strain* ( 1971 ) Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson. Dir: Robert Wise, Universal, 131 mins, P/S Saturday -- 22nd Those Who Survive 6:00 AM *Last Woman on Earth* ( 1960 ) Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne. Dir: Roger Corman, Filmgroup, 71 mins, PD 7:15 AM *The Last Man On Earth* ( 1964 ) Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli. Dir: Ubaldo Ragona, La Regina, 86 mins, PD 8:45 AM *On the Beach* ( 1959 ) Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire. Dir: Stanley Kramer, UA, 134 mins, P/S 11:00 AM *Five* ( 1951 ) William Phipps, Susan Douglas Rubes, James Anderson. Dir: Arch Oboler, Columbia, 91 mins, P/S 12:45 PM *Panic in Year Zero* ( 1962 ) Ray Milland, Jean Hagen, Frankie Avalon. Dir: Ray Milland, AIP, 95 mins, P/S 2:30 PM *The Bed Sitting Room* ( 1969 ) Rita Tushingham, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cook. Dir: Richard Lester, UA, 90 mins, P/S 4:00 PM *The World, the Flesh and the Devil* ( 1959 ) Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens, Mel Ferrer. Dir: Randal MacDougal, MGM, 95 mins 5:45 PM *Things To Come* ( 1936 ) Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwick. Dir: William Cameron Menzies, London Film Productions, 97 mins, P/S 7:30 PM *Now Playing* 30 mins Those Who Survive II and Oscar Misses TCM Essential 8:00 PM *Silent Running* ( 1972 ) Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin. Dir: Douglas Trumbull, Universal, 89 mins, Premiere -11, Oscar for Best Supporting Robot 9:45 PM *The Omega Man* ( 1971 ) Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash. Dir: Boris Sagal, WB, 98 mins, Premiere -12, Oscar for Best Misanthrope 11:30 PM *A Boy and His Dog* ( 1974 ) Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Jason Robards Jr.. Dir: L. Q. Jones, LQ/JAF, 87 mins, Premiere -13, Oscar for Best Opening Titles 1:00 AM *The Time Machine* ( 1960 ) Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young. Dir: George Pal, MGM, 103 mins, Oscar for Best Closing Question 2:45 AM *Barbarella* ( 1968 ) Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg. Dir: Roger Vadim, Paramount, 98 mins, P/S, Oscar for Best Costumes 4:30 AM *Day the World Ended* ( 1955 ) Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens. Dir: Roger Corman, Golden, 79 mins, Premiere -14, Oscar for Best Man-Eating Monster

> {quote:title=willbefree25 wrote:}{quote} > As a doctor, I just wish he was a smidgin more intelligently drawn, otherwise I was fine with him. Watson was an army doctor. Doyle didn't feel that earned the same respect as someone who had gone through medical school and struggled to set up his own practice, as he had to. Army doctors were famous (or infamous) for knowing only how cut off legs and give you enough morphine to keep you quiet (the rate at which wounded soldiers became morphine addicts was astonishingly high). The routine of Holmes explaining to Watson how simple observations led to obvious conclusions was at least partially due to Doyle wanting to show how an army doctor needed to be spoken to like a child. (Some of Doyle's early drafts were written in semi-omniscient, and the explanations were delivered to a bumbling police detective, but they took on a real edge when he made Watson the narrator who had to be tutored like a backward child.) As the stories progressed, Doyle had to evolve Watson into a more respectable companion, but I found that wicked undercurrent was always there. When the original scripts, and casting, were done, that feeling towards army doctors was still known. > He also played the dunderhead to Grant in Suspicion, so perhaps he was typecast. He was probably picked for the role because of his being a dithering dunderhead. It's a role he knew well. He was an air-headed fop as the Prince in *The Scarlet Pimpernel,* and the befuddled Willie in *The Last of Mrs. Cheyney.*

> {quote:title=rosebette wrote:}{quote} > On another note, I find Nigel Bruce's performances hammy and not true to the character of Watson at all. I see that comment often. Bruce's portrayal might have more truth in it than most people realize. First, Watson supposedly wrote the stories, and no one ever describes themselves accurately. It's not hard to imagine a slow-witted oaf passing himself off, in print, as intelligent, suave, and experienced. Anyone can appear glib when they have an unlimited opportunity to edit, rewrite, and revise their conversations. I know several people who are absolutely tongue-tied when talking to people, but give them a pen and paper (or a keyboard and screen), and they come across as rivals of Dorothy Parker or Oscar Levant. And how many times have you heard someone say, "I thought there was something wrong," when, at the time, they were as taken in as everyone else? A writer, knowing the ending before he begins the story, can put those doubts into their narration long before the denouement, or at least leave out the parts where they were led down the garden path. Second, there's no reason Sherlock Holmes would want an intelligent and perceptive person around. People of similar skill are predictable while people with poor skills are so erratic they bring out overlooked aspects of the situation. (Vincentio Saviolo is supposed to have said, "The best swordsmans does not fear the second-best. He fears the worst.") Why would Holmes want someone who is only a step or two behind him in observing minute details and reaching conclusions? He needed a partner who wasn't capable of thinking along the same lines as he was, someone who wouldn't go down the same dead-ends. In case after case, a rather inane comment by Watson brought Holmes out of a convoluted, morass of over-thinking and put him on the right track. This opposite character is stated bluntly in The Hound of the Baskervilles when Holmes says, "It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it." Third, Holmes needed a whipping boy to take out his frustrations on. In *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,* Holmes tells Watson, "I'm afraid you're an incorrigible bungler." Watson looks like a puppy who's been kicked, but a pat on the back and a smile puts everything right again. Can you imagine saying things like that to any doctor you know and having them keep coming back for more? Of course not. It takes a dithering, socially inept, dimwit to take such abuse time after time and still consider you a valued friend. It's probable that the screenwriters originally lightened Watson in order to provide some comic relief, and Bruce played it for all it was worth. But I think they saw behind the facade of the autobiographical passages and had an instinctive grasp of the true nature of the character.

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote} > This is horrible. Horrible to hear. I knew little brothers were pains in the neck, but I do not mean to suggest they be tarred and feathered. Well...not literally. I am hesitant to pry and ask were your parents not around to protect you. This sounds like more than just childhood scrapes. What's your relationship like now with those harridans gals? They weren't sociopaths, just recklessly enthusiastic. I don't remember either of them ever getting seriously hurt; it was just that I was so much younger I didn't have the reflexes to get out of the way at the last moment. Most of their jokes were things like teaching me 'one goose, two geese; one moose, two meese' or telling me a certain word was spelled with a 'ph' instead of an 'f' so it wasn't a four letter word, and it wasn't what mom meant when she said not to use the 'f word.' I wasn't always the butt of their fun. One convinced the other that if she caught a bee, it'd make honey in her hand. Then she convinced her to not tell mom about being stung because mom would be disappointed she had a daughter so stupid she couldn't tell the difference between a honey bee and a stinging bee. As for parental control -- dad worked long hours. I usually saw him on weekends. Mom worked and had an active social life. I often saw her at breakfast. One time, it was two days before they knew I was in the hospital with pneumonia. As for my relationship with them -- since we moved to different parts of the country, we started writing regularly and got along great. One has since passed away, and I haven't seen the other since 1972 (she's the one who SansFin says looks Valentino). Picking out a few incidents here and there, it sounds terrible, but in many ways I had a great childhood. They taught me to read and write very early so I could help them with their homework (I'd read their lists of spelling words and mark which ones they missed, etc.). In school, I was proud to be so far ahead of everyone else, which reinforced my desire to read and write even more. They taught me to do my own laundry, cook my own meals, and vacuum, dust, etc.. It was their way of making me do their chores, but it also means I've never been one of those guys who is helpless without a mother or wife to take care of him. I can say they made me what I am today -- a neurotic, paranoid misanthrope. At least it's better than being a self-made man with no one else to blame! > Sans Fin...extra TLC for Capuchin tonite! That's a CineMavic order!! Don't tell her that! It makes me very nervous when a woman is extra nice to me -- it makes me wonder what's she buttering me up for. Edited by: Capuchin on Nov 28, 2011 4:22 PM

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote}Awwww. Poor Capuchin. Poor poor Capuchin. I am the oldest of three. The youngest of us is a little brother. This doesn't speak well for Big Sisters with Little Brothers. Tsk! Tsk! Shame on us Big Sisters Sorry to interrupt. I don't want to take the thread sideways, but I have to protect my rep! When most people talk about scars from childhood, they mean they were so delicate they had emotional traumas early in life. Courtesy of my sisters, I have real scars. Thinking a little extra weight would be an advantage in a pillow fight, one of them added a hefty rock to her pillowcase. Nine stitches starting from my eyelid. The upside was that I had to wear an eye patch for a week or two, so I could constantly play pirate. I used a little red ladder to climb up to put my clothes in the washing machine. One day, they grabbed my legs and tipped me headfirst into the tub. Apparently I was fighting enough they couldn't get me all the way in, so they started banging the lid shut on my legs. There must have been a sharp edge on it. I needed twelve stitches in a T-shaped pattern. The upside was my sisters had to do my laundry for a month. I could go on about scalp, shoulder, stomach, groin, thigh, and ankle, but you get the idea. I was such a regular customer at the emergency room, the nurses thought I'd moved when I hadn't been in there for six months. Is it any wonder why I sought refuge in books?

A couple of months ago, I got a letter from the Nielsen ratings people. Included was a survey asking things like my age, the number of tvs in the house, whether I had cable, etc. and two crisp, sequentially numbered one dollar bills. Not being too proud to take even a small bribe, I filled it out and sent it in. A little over a week ago, a large envelope arrived. In it were two ratings diaries (one for each working tv) and instructions to start filling them out on the 10th and mail them back on the 18th. My first thought was to simply fill them in then and there with the TCM schedule for the week. I didn't do it for several reasons: 1) Since TCM doesn't have outside advertisers, they don't subscribe to the Nielsen ratings. That means my entire supposed viewing week would have been lumped in with religious programs, shopping channels, and CNN as not watching anything relevant. 2) It wouldn't be honest. Now don't get me wrong -- if I thought it was somehow possible to game the system, I'd have seen it as a challenge and leapt on it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the cards are all stacked in their favor. They have decades of experience dealing with tens of thousands of viewers, and all I had was a bunch of conflicting information off the internet about how they process and use the data they collect. In the final analysis, I might be hurting the few non-TCM programs I like if I didn't play it straight. 3) I wasn't planning on watching most of TCM's daytime or evening movies this last week. Yes, they're all great and wonderful classics, but I already watched the few I like when I first saw the schedule. This is actually rather normal for me -- there are often long stretches with nothing that catches my interest, and then they'll be several days in a row when I can't keep up with all the movies I want to see. There's also the fact that I'm still a little miffed at TCM from screwing up my Now Playing subscription so badly, and they can't be bothered to do anything about it. So what did I watch this past week? Just what I usually watch when there's nothing on TCM -- a lot of the USA Network original shows, BBC America's Top Gear and Doctor Who, and the usual suspects on the old networks -- NCIS, The Mentalist, CSI, and House. I don't remember watching any of the network shows new this season (I sampled some when they first aired, and I didn't care for any of them). The remainer was mostly from H2 (formerly History International), Science, and DXD. Since there was a decent movie on late most nights, I often ended on TCM, even though I know it won't do any good. The really good news -- FMC, AMC, and IFC had only their usual mangled fare, so it was easy to avoid them completely! Well, that's been my foray into the world of influencing ad rates and renewal chances in the non-TCM world. If some of the info I've found on the net is correct, my data will represent 1/500th of a rating point. It's hardly earth-shattering, but then, what do you expect for $2?

You're all to be congratulated on your great work. You'd think after so many challenges that the ideas would be pretty thin, but you just keep getting better and better! And congrats to LonesomePolecat for creating and running a great challenge.

> {quote:title=casablancalover wrote:}{quote} > It's a hobby, till you sell one. Then it's your life's work. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you can make a living out of it. -- Tromberg A survey a few years ago showed that novelists earn an average of $2,000 a year from their writing, and that was people who had sold a novel to a royalty publisher, not a vanity press, POD, or other self-publishing venue! I doubt the business model for screenplays is any different. As far as rewriting -- There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right! -- Kipling

Rosemary Chicken 4 chicken breasts, boned and cut into 1/2" strips 3 tbls oil 1/2 cup red and green peppers, chopped 1/2 cup red onion, chopped 1 glove of garlic, minced 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 tsp chives, minced 1 tbls dried rosemary, crushed, or 2 tbls fresh, minced 1/2 cup sherry Brown the chicken in oil, set aside. Saute peppers, onion, and garlic 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, chives, and rosemary. Return chicken to pan and stir to thoroughly coat. Add sherry, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes. Put chicken on a bed of rice, drizzle with some of the cooking liquid.

Caveat: I've never written a complete screenplay, let alone sold one. I did write a one act play once that found an agent, but no producer took a chance on it. I do have a few other publication credits. My attitude towards rewriting mirrors the advice of Lawrence Block, novelist and Writer's Digest columnist for many years -- "(Don't write) your first draft with the assumption that that's all it is, a first draft, a piece of unfinished work, and thus an excuse for you to be utterly sloppy about what you're doing. 'It doesn't matter how rough it is, I just want to get this down; later on I can worry about turning it into English.' Well, no. Sorry, but I don't buy it. All a sloppy first draft teaches you is to be sloppy in your writing." -- from Chapter 19, *Washing Garbage* in Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block, Arbor House, 1981 Isaac Asimov advised to take a sheet of good paper, a good carbon, a proper second sheet, roll them into the typewriter, set the margins, and start writing as if it's what you're going to send to the editor. It probably won't be, but acting as if it is will keep you focused on doing your best. He told me that if your first version needs more than the correction of typos, rearranging a few sentences, or similar polishing, put it on the shelf and start a new story because rewriting would strip it of any flow, freshness, or passion it had. The only major rewrite Charles Dickens did to one novel was to change the name of one character from Little Fred to Tiny Tim. There is one overriding exception -- when an editor asks for a rewrite. Editors in all fields have so many manuscripts passing over their desk they'll naturally pass on something that needs work unless they find 99% of it exceptional, and they only need it tweaked to conform to what their readers want or expect. (The most major rewrite I've ever been asked to do involved adding one sentence and changing another to make the resolution more obvious.) What happens to your story after someone buys it should be of no concern -- the commercial and artistic sides of writing are very different, and caring what happens after the check clears will only lead to madness.

I checked the online schedule -- unfortunately, they didn't list *The Studio Murder Mystery* after PPM, so there's no way of knowing if this was a one-off or if it's going to be standard practice. I really, really hope it's going they're going to keep doing it. My database shows these in the series: Murder in the Pullman The Campus Mystery The Cole Case The Crane Poison Case The Side Show Mystery The Skull Murder Mystery The Studio Murder Mystery The Symphony Murder Mystery The Trans-Atlantic Mystery The Wall Street Mystery The Week End Mystery I've checked each title in the TCM database, and none of them show they're scheduled -- in fact, some of them aren't even in the database!

I love the part where she's talking to the secretary and asks if she's sure it was a man who phoned on the day of the murder. The secretary says it isn't likely a woman would call her "baby." Hildegard's answer is: "Not this far downtown."

> {quote:title=ClassicFilmMan wrote:}{quote} > That listing that you mentioned in your post isn't listed in my June Now Playing guide magazine at all. In fact, on June 14, 2011, TCM aired A Summer Place at 1:00pm and then Susan Slade at 3:15pm. It is very odd that there should be such a discrepancy. That happens quite often with schedules more than two months out -- they're not officially posted and many times they seem to be works in progress. It's like they work out what they want and think they can get, but then they have to substitute and shuffle things around if they can't get the rights, or there isn't a digital copy, or any number of not-immediately-obvious problems.

> {quote:title=voranis wrote:}{quote} > If they spent less time selling products, they might be able to show more promos, thus increasing the variety that is shown. If they spent less time selling products, they wouldn't have the money to buy the rights to air any promos. Also, I suspect that short films are very rare. All films of the classic era were considered disposable, with trailers and short subjects even more so because while someone might stash a copy of a movie they really liked, almost no one would bother with a one-reeler.

Thanks for reminding me! I totally spaced off the time, but thanks to the magic of modern technology (a DVR), I can still record it from the beginning.Without your reminder, I'd have just gone to bed and missed the opportunity to capture it. Even better -- now there's *The Studio Murder Mystery* -- one of a series that is shown very rarely! I sincerely hope they're going to be playing these after all the Hildy Withers movies!

I don't know if it was actually shown, but *The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs* (1960) was scheduled for 14 Jun 11 (the schedule I downloaded on 10 Mar 11). > 2:15 PMDark At The Top Of The Stairs, The (1960) > Changing times create sexual tensions among members of a small-town family in the '20s. Cast: Robert Preston, Dorothy McGuire, Angela Lansbury. Dir: Delbert Mann. C-124 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Wow! You did come up with something devilish! That's far more off the wall than most, but it shouldn't be any more difficult. One nit -- SansFin's wasn't the last one. You get the "privilege" of hosting this one because you won #19; her's was #18. This should be verrrry interesting . . .

> {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote} > You are either a fan of TCM or you are not. And if you are a fan, you will patiently tolerate some of the broadcast issues. I'm a little confused -- you say there are two types, but you comment on the complainers and the apologists, and then you hold yourself up as a third type. > {quote:title=PrinceSaliano wrote:}{quote} > The world isn't black or white. True -- the best movies are black and white! > {quote:title=scsu1975 wrote:}{quote} > there are 10 kinds of people in the world - those that understand binary and those that don't. I've heard it as there are 11 kinds of people in the world -- those who understand unary and those who don't. I guess I'm sort of a 4th type. I love TCM because it brings me classic movies I'd never otherwise know about. I understand the "uncut and commercial-free" describes the movies, not the channel as a whole. I am not disturbed when TCM shows movies I don't like because I'm not their only viewer, and not all of us have the same tastes. At times I'm even thankful TCM shows films which I think are stinkers because if they always showed only what I love, I'd never get anything done!

The bestest best scene ever in any film is at the bus stop in *My Neighbor Totoro.* She's standing there in the rain, obviously tired, worried that her father is late, caring enough to take her little sister up on her back, and then the monster walks up to stand beside her. The still of them standing side-by-side, each holding an umbrella, is perfect! I would be in trouble if I didn't also mention the closing scene of *The Thomas Crown Affair.* It isn't your typical Hollywood ending -- after a couple of "the audience didn't see this coming" switches, each of the characters stays true to their character.

I've been missing Mr. Robert as much as anyone, but his absence was particularly acute last night -- he would have made the intro to *The Constant Nymph* wonderful. I wouldn't put too much thought into the length of his stay in the hospital -- for my last heart valve replacement, I was in and out in five days, but when I had my tonsils out, they kept me nearly two weeks. It all depends on how fast your vitals, blood chemistry, etc. bounce back. I've been counting the days, and I'd really hoped he'd be back starting next week, but what we really need is for him to take care of himself, even if it means he doesn't come back to us quickly.

I used to like the 3 Stooges a lot. My taste for slapstick has waned over the years. But anyone who thinks Laurence Olivier and the Stooges are polar opposites have never seen his early movies. In *The Divorce of Lady X* he shows he can wrestle a bed with the best of them. Check him out in *Too Many Crooks,* *The Temporary Widow,* or *Perfect Understanding.*

What I've learned from a Maltin intro is that my tolerance has fallen to a new low. After 30 seconds, I switched the channel and switched back when I was sure he'd be gone, preferring to miss a few minutes of the movie I'd waited months to see rather than endure his smarminess. That is a drastic change -- I used to be able to watch a full minute of him before feeling I was engulfed by slime.

I love *The Bishop Misbehaves* -- it's so typical Gwenn! *It's a Dog's Life* looks like it might be interesting. *Shanghai Express* is a definite watcher -- Marlene being Marlene. I'm going to have to catch *Thieves Fall Out* because I'm a sucker for comedy capers. I don't think I've seen *Two Heads on a Pillow* either -- there's another movie with an almost identical blurb, and since I like that one, I should like this one. I've always thought *British Agent* is a bit talky, but who can resist that cast? *The Naked City* is a low-key procedural that somehow found its way onto my favorites list. *The Journey* is the type of movie I don't normally like, but it rises above its genre and is quite touching and a touch horrific at the same time. I approve and applaud *Penguin Pool Murder* on Saturday morning, but I wonder why they didn't continue the Philo Vance series with *Garden Murder Case* which is the only other PV movie I remember TCM ever showing. *The Spiral Staircase* is one of those few mystery movies where it doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, somewhere along the line I begin to suspect someone else is the murderer. *The Male Animal* and *Young Ideas* are a great way to end a Saturday!