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I don't know if Carson is my favorite, but he is one of the character actors that I really enjoy. There's something refereshing about his crassness and honesty. In Mildred Pierce, I almost wish she ended up with him instead of Zachary Scott because at least Carson's honest about his bad intentions. The last time I wept at a star's death when when James Garner passed (oh and I shed a few tears for Mary Tyler Moore, but more for the memories of her TV show).

Carson was in the Garland version. But I'll watch him in almost anything. I guess part of my bias toward March is that I could fall in love with the guy in that movie. I find Mason already a bit too needy, but March is someone who is a lot of fun, but also vulnerable. You can see what made him a star and why people are still loyal to him and willing to cast him, despite his alcoholism.

I saw The Favourite, and Olivia's performance is tremendous -- at time repellant, at time profoundly sympathetic and moving. I haven't seen Glenn Close in The Wife yet, so can't judge that, but Meryl won a few years ago for Iron Lady, which wasn't that great a film, but obviously an award for a body of work, so I can understand the disappointment about Glenn.

I think the 1937 Star is Born is really March's show. While I love Gaynor in her silent roles, especially Seventh Heaven and Street Angel, I can't believe that she is really star material in A Star is Born, just someone who was fortunate enough to be discovered when her type of sweetness and charm were the trend in actresses (and that trend didn't last long, as Gaynor herself retired from films not long after ward, while ironically, March remained a big star). March is charming, funny, and ultimately tragic (The great writing also help a lot here; many posters have remarked on the wit of the 1937 screenlay). While James Mason is a fine actor, I don't find him as appealing as March, and obviously, Garland's Esther Blodgett is an unknown whose incredible talent will easily overtake Maine's. One feels that anyone could have discovered her and brought her to the recognition she deserved. I actually find the spirit of the 1937 film closer to the current remake with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I actually liked the new version more than I expected, and found that Bradley Cooper's likability and sympathetic qualities made him more akin to March's portrayal than Mason's. Lady Gaga's character is obviously a meteoric talent, but Cooper's character is also clearly someone of great talent, charm, and generosity, whose star is on the wane and who can't overcome his own self-destruction. In both the 1937 and 2018 version film, I feel the real sense of the generosity and sacrifice that the male character is making, perhaps because in both those films the part of the male is better written. The 1954 film is overbalanced in favor of Garland; Mason truly is just an adjunct, a "Mr. Vicky Lester."

When we got our new big screen TV a couple of years back and TCM ran this one, I had to watch it. What fun, and Flynn never looked more gorgeous in glorious technicolor -- the goldarnest handsomest cowboy ever. It was actually one of my youngest kids' favorite movies to watch on an old VHS -- it's really nonstop action, except for the love scene and a couple of comical moments. As an aside, the rival singing between the former Confederates and Yankees in the bar is really just an earlier version of the singing contest between the Germans and the resistance singing the Marsellaise in Casablanca. Curtiz always new how to reuse a good idea.

My husband's half Italian, and he said back in the day, there was an assumption that Italians weren't quite "white." Basically, any group of immigrants who did not speak English and were slightly darker complexioned were considered nonwhite. However, he loves the Marx Brothers and often mimics Chico's routines. We've always looked at the Marx Brothers as basically anarchists, violating every social convention. We've never looked at their humor in the same way someone may see blackface, for example.

I am so looking forward to the TCM tribute for him!

My father attended Catholic University with Leo Brady, the author of the book on which this movie is based. When it came out, it was a real big deal for Catholics at the time, but apparently, the film was a disappointment. Anyway, my dad was also a writer (mostly short stories) but ended up an English teacher, and perhaps had a bit of jealousy of Brady's success.

I love this movie and haven't seen it in years! Was it shown on TCM?

In Deception, I think the poor Paul Henreid character must have lost weight due to that stressful restaurant scene during which Rains is every waiter's nightmare.

I'm thinking the 3% rule might also apply to musicals, and I happen to be a musical fan. My husband and I were watching the That's Entertainment marathon New Year's Eve and thought about how brilliant it was for the editors of that series to pick the best numbers from musicals so we we don't have to watch the whole damn thing, especially the Esther Williams movies and those dreadful biopics like Words and Music, which are torture to watch in their entirety. Of course, there are the classics like Singin in the Rain, The Bandwagon, and An American in Paris, but very few musicals are of that caliber. The musicals from the early sound era are almost unwatchable. I even think some of the Warners' musicals from the 30s (except for Footlight Parade, 42nd Street, and Goldiggers of 1933) as being in that category, worth it only for the numbers, but not for anything else (how much Hugh Herbert and pre-film noir Dick Powell can anyone stand?). The same goes for those 20th Century Fox efforts with Betty Grable in the 40s. Who needs to give 2 hours of one's life listening to that banal dialogue and watching the same stupid plots?

I'm rather partial to this film and wish TCM would show it again. Warner Baxter has a manic intensity which is almost tragic in this one, and Myrna Loy is exceptional as the woman who loves him, but tries to keep her emotions under wraps until the end. A slight spoiler alert -- this is mis-billed as a comedy. Anyway, this movie is far superior to the remake with Bing Crosby.

I saw Barishnikov about 20 years ago in a one man show that my sister gave me birthday tickets for. He performed part of the show in a pair of red briefs. Both of us agreed we should have gotten closer seats. Not only was he still gorgeous and in great shape, he did a dance with a rolling office chair that reminded me of one of Astaire's numbers with a prop.

Both her performance and Grant's come from the interior. Love the moment when she's basically chewing her hair as she wakes up, so natural. She is one of my favorite actresses, perhaps because she's not "actress-y." Even Rains, who can be the ham, is exceptional.

Notorious is my favorite, perhaps because it is such a "small" film, really focused on three main characters, Cary Grant's, Ingrid Bergman's, and Claude Rains'. The closeness of it, especially the love scenes, focus on the intimacy between the characters, and yet in that intimacy, multiple betrayals. Hitchcock was one of the few directors who could bring out the darker side of Cary Grant in a way that was extremely compelling.

Sorry, but I've seen too many posts on message boards from guys claiming to look like Errol Flynn, Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, etc., etc. I need to see the real McCoy. Of course, I look just like the charming young brunette in my TCM profile pick!

On Hardwicke's character, the same here. Although I'd go to my end gladly as Spring Byington does if the last thing I see is a solicitous Errol dressed in scrubs. Also, my hope through the whole flick was that he'd end up with Margaret Lindsay. Anita Louise was just a blonde cipher. Good thing she didn't get to be Maid Marian.

You haven't seen those Warner blooper reels where the words "S-o-B" drop so prettily from Olivia's lips when she blows her lines?

I don't think Flynn could have pulled off the fop masquerade. Contrary to those who say Flynn, compared to action heroes of today, comes off as "effeminate," I think he's much too innately masculine. I'm a Power fan, too, but feel that Flynn just exudes masculine sex appeal. I also think that Flynn had a certain insecurity (if you've read is autobiography and biographies on him, you'll see this) which may have prevented him from taking on that type of role early in his career. Flynn was also more of a "studio product"; I think Warner's had a lot to say about his image. Power's playing at effeminacy fairly early in his career is a fairly big risk as an actor, and Nightmare Alley was another risk, taken fairly early in his career. His early death was truly a loss of someone who could have been recognized as one of America's finest actors if his career continued. I believe that the heart attack was definitely from a hereditary condition. I wouldn't even chalk it up to smoking. Our favorite fencer/villain, Basil Rathbone, was often photographed on set with a ciggie hanging from his lip, and he managed to stay active until a fairly ripe old age.

I'm a big Rathbone fan, but I could never sit through the The Bishop's Murder Case. I don't know who filmed it, but it seemed mostly people's backs, and shots with the tops of their heads barely showing. The prints were always abysmal and the dialogue unintelligible (quite a feat, since Rathbone is known for his precise elocution). I think the Warren William flicks are better, but they have that nice B-level Warner's snap.

I saw this movie, but can't remember the name. It got bad reviews, but I remember enjoying it. Fill me in, Tom.

This is one of my favorite Holmes films of the Universal series. It's also one in which Holmes is definitely not an asexual character, as there is clear chemistry between him and Hillary Brooke's character. I think this is also the one in which Holmes is in a bar and describes the female character's "lustrous eyes." Rathbone always has an undertone of sexiness and a worldly wise character, which you don't see in the Jeremy Brett version. Perhaps not entirely faithful to Conan Doyle, but most appealing to watch.

This story is related to the new book by Robert Matzen which is to be released later this winter, which is also written up in the TCM site. He also wrote Fireball, which was about Carole Lombard, focusing on the tragic plane crash in which she died, and a wartime bio of Jimmy Stewart, Mission. I'm a fan of his Errol and Olivia. I'm actually looking forward to this new book. Matzen's a good writer with some interesting takes on his subjects, and he really does his research. Dutch Girl might be the breakthrough book for him.

Despite the political incorrectness, I found the Ritz brothers incredibly funny. My husband's just back from the hospital and almost lost a few stitches. They were also terrific dancers -- some of their musical numbers are amazing. Harry's rubber face and drag acts were a scream. I'm ashamed I laughed so hard. I can see why Mel Brooks admired them; like him, they pushed the extremes of taste to get a gag.

Except for Cary Elwes, who is paying a kind of comic homage through Mel Brooks' Men in Tights, the others are pale imitations. Kevin Costner with his midwestern twang? Alan Rickman steals the picture from him handily. The dour and pudgy middle-aged Russell Crowe in Robin Hood: The Legend Begins? So when is the next part of the story -- when he starts collecting Medicare? The aging and wistful Sean Connery in Robin and Marian might be a better telling of that tale.