path40a

It's a Wonderful Life?

Balto ;-)

Yes, you got it! Your turn.

Sorry folks, I got real lazy on that last clue. This film was my first experience seeing the great Hedy in action. Since antar doesn't appear to be around, Clue #8 - a golden candlestick

Clue #7 - Hedy

Yep, they're pretty sticky. I'll amend that clue to squid heads and give: Clue #6 - house burns down

I don't think my library has any of these studio books :- ( However, the Universal Story is still available on Amazon and B&N for $50. I opted to order AFI's Everything book for $28 (on sale from $40) instead. Hope I'm not disappointed. Anyone know anything about it? Did I just waste my money?

... topic is old and out-of-date. I'm not sure if you've forgotten about it or just don't have the resources to update it to what is currently being shown on "The Essentials" Sundays on TCM. In either case, I'm not suggesting that you remove it, or update if you don't have the time etc. However, perhaps you can add the "Post New Topic" option to that part of the message boards so that we could grow that area and discuss those "essential" films. Thanks!

Nope, Clue #4 1/2 - there is no Devil in this picture, however, there is: Clue #5 - Praying to a Saint

No stella but good guess. BTW, I've "sodded" back on ;- ) Clue #4 - squids

stlgal, I knew that you knew that ... just joshin' ya ;- ) Clue #3 - a guitar

Nope, besides, those were bottles of uranium, weren't they ;- ) Clue #2 - vacuum cleaner

Thanks stlgal! O.K., I'll start another game. Saw this one on the recommendation of someone here! Hope I can make it challenging and not too obvious (and that it hasn't been used recently either). Clue #1 - bottles of wine

BTW, in case my thoughts were unclear in my initial post which began this thread, I agree with antar ; -)

To Have and Have Not ... was going to guess Key Largo after reading through the first few clues again;-)

Kings Row?

On another internet discussion board which I follow, the following two statements were recently made: "Honestly, the bad films of 2003 are much better than the bad films of 40 years ago" and "if the film is 40 years old, subtract a star and a half from the average critical review. I think this even applies to pretty good movies from 40+ years ago, like Mr. Roberts. The average critical review will give it 5 stars for nostalgia reasons, whereas it's really more like 3 and half" While I might tend to agree with the first statement, the second is really ignorant IMO. If it weren't for the fact that we have many younger contributors here who have an indepth knowledge of classic film, I'd think the latter statement above must be from someone less than 35 (or even younger). I chose not to respond to either statement (yet?) because the forum where I read it is dominated by folks who think American Beauty, The Fight Club, Memento, etc. are the best films ever made and they appear to have little or no interest in the classics. Does anyone here think older films are overrated?

Yep, I also forgot Preston Sturges who, though his greatness was brief, did direct a lot of films. Some truly great comedies with a cast of characters you looked forward to seeing again, from film to film, in different roles.

Stella, your list is so similar to mine (including Wilder) yet I'd also add Ernst Lubitsch, John Ford and maybe Howard Hawks too.

No problem re: my identity, I thought of it as a compliment for you to confuse me with him;-) Actually, The Color Purple (1985) shares a dubious distinction with The Turning Point (1977) as the films that received the most Oscar nominations (eleven!) without receiving a single award. I'm not sure what the story behind the latter film was, but The Color Purple suffered from its association (and the envy at the time) with Stephen Speilberg, it's director, who DIDN'T even get one of the 11 nominations!

Stella, great post! Although I disagree about TCAT (I actually listed a scene from it in my "sexiest" post), I totally agree about John Cusack. In fact, I don't think the guy can act period! He sleepwalks through all the films I've seen him in which have been TOO many;-) stlgal, though I enjoy MANY of his films, I'm not sure George Cukor could have given us great "animal attraction" on film given his own preferences ... unless he was directing a Rock Hudson biography maybe;-)

It's been said that the present is no time to judge a movie's quality or importance. Indeed, there have been many films which have suffered from (e.g.) bad timing that have not done well or have gone unnoticed until years later. And, many films that "bomb" at the box office (most notably Citizen Kane) are regarded as great movies of their time or of all time. There a lot of terrific films I know that I would have never seen were they not shown in primetime on TCM. Here is a list of some of those films which I don't believe were well known or well respected at the time of their release, but which over the course of time have come to be regarded as very good and/or important films, at least according to Robert Osborne. And, I enjoyed them ... if that counts for anything;-) The Killing (1956) - very early Kubrick which is actually now listed in imdb's top 200! The Hill (1965) - an unusual film for Sean Connery, directed by Sidney Lumet, about a British disciplanary camp during WW II. Point Blank (1967) - Lee Marvin/Angie Dickinson film later redone as Payback (1999) by Mel Gibson Fail-Safe (1964) - a film which was unfortunately overshadowed by a spoof, with a similar plot, by Stanley Kubrick Crossfire (1947) - a thriller with a hard look at anti-Sematism (sp?) and a great cast Scaramouche (1952) - a terrific swashbuckling film featuring Stewart Granger and the longest screen sword battle up to that time (I have no idea if, e.g. Star Wars fights count or are longer) The Man Who Would Be King (1975) - I've always loved this film which was initially panned and yet now is listed in imdb's top 250 movies of all time (FWIW;-) The Train (1964) - underrated war film starring Burt Lancaster and directed by John Frankenheimer and Arthur Penn The Clock (1945) - see Judy Garland act! Narrow Margin (1952) - no one you've ever heard of is in it, but it did receive a Best Writing Oscar nomination Edge of the City (1957) - early John Cassavetes & Sidney Poitier Can you name some other films like these, particularly under the Academy Awards "radar", that TCM introduced to you?

Sorry, if I'm right, I can't lead a game. Spotty availability the next few hours. So, please start a new one without me. Sorry again.

L'Avventura?

Ned, When I saw American Beauty, I was actually afraid that life in California (?) is really like that ... incredibly self centered people, drugs are no big deal, ex-military Dads are psychos, and lusting after your daughter's girlfriends is normal. Sounds about right, stereotypically, doesn't it;-)