faceinthecrowd

WW II didn't exactly "come along," but if it had never happened, there might have been more films noirs. And that would have been fine with me.

Exactly the opposite took place when *It Happened One Night* was released. When Clark Gable took off his shirt, revealing that there was nothing under it but his manly chest, the sales of men's undershirts plummeted. But to address the broader question of how movies influenced -- or reflected -- social changes, I think the 1960s are a significant decade for examination.

The film that Norma Desmond watches is *Queen Kelly,* which was directed by Erich von Stroheim, who plays Max in *Sunset Boulevard.*

In *The Grifters,* Anjelica Huston receives a telephone warning that her boss knows she's been stealing from him. She leaves immediately; on the TV is the movie she's been watching: *The Lady Vanishes.* In *Brute Force,* the inmates watch *The Egg and I.*

"Nobody dies." A WALK IN THE SUN

Two footnotes to Ann Sheridan's career: 1) In *Kings Row* she didn't appear on the screen for more than 60 minutes after the opening credits began, even though she was top-billed. That has to be a record. 2) Her publicity photos were usually of the sultry and seductive type, but she generally played the girl next door. (An exception was the floosie in *They Made Me a Criminal.*)

When Janet Leigh goes to see Jack Webb in his pad, he says: "You've got the wrong gutter. This is a single."

In the "Little Johnny Jones" number Jimmy dances halfway up the wall -- at least, it looks that way.

A favorite episode of mine is "The Element of Danger" (1962), in which Lee Marvin plays one of his patented nut jobs -- a violent guy who places himself in precarious situations because that's how he gets his kicks. I bought the DVD just for that performance.

Tracy and Hepburn Laurel and Hardy Greenstreet and Lorre

I haven't seen this version, but if it's as bad as you say, you always have the option of ignoring it. I've found that it's not worth getting riled up about the fact that a lot of people like something I don't -- or vice versa.

You're right. That's usually the reason that things are done: in a word, money. IMDb to the rescue. They're great about showing the complete cast, even those whose names are not in the credits.

The one with the little kid (Billy Mumy) who uses his telepathic and telekinetic powers to terrorize a small town -- it had the ironic title, "It's a Good Life." And I always identify with Burgess Meredith in "Time Enough at Last."

Actually, I'm sad when robots die. When the cyborg went to his death in *Terminator 2* I got all choked up. As for Emma Thompson, I'd give her anything she wanted. And not a crummy CD, either.

The final scene in *Shane.*

On a website that has no relation to movies, my user name is the name of a prominent character in a famous film. I won't get any more specific than that.

It's interesting to see in how many of Wayne's films he included a chess scene. He didn't seem to be the type, but one never knows.

Update on Reshevsky vs. Bogart: I've just played that game over, and I see that Bogart played 5....Nxd5 in the Two Knights -- the usual amateur's move, rather than 5....Na5, the pawn sac favored by GMs. And Bogie played 6....f6, a move I've recently been trying to refute; I see that Sammy played 7. dxe5, so I'll assume that this is the best answer. As to the final position: I'm surprised that Reshevsky didn't play on. If Black retreats his knight to b6, White can play d5, then maneuver his king to d3, d4 and c5. Black's pawns look a little weak. No doubt there's a lot I'm overlooking here; but that's the great thing about chess: even woodpushers can put their two cents in.

I have to note that *Searching for Bobby Fischer* -- unlike the book, which was very interesting -- was guilty of some ridiculous dramatic license. It has Josh offering a draw in the last round even though he has a winning position! In reality, he never had a win and had to fight to get the draw he needed to take first place in the tournament. GM Larry Evans said, "It doesn't ring true" -- a huge understatement. Well, that's Hollywood for you. But if the movie got anyone interested in chess, that's OK with me.

Who is that? Carole Lombard as a brunette?

Thank you for the links, Kid_Dabb. I've bookmarked them, and I'm eager to play over Bogie's games. I see that he liked to play the French -- in fact, that's what he was playing in *Casablanca.* He had the black pieces, and he was holding a white knight and frowning, apparently anticipating a strong move by his opponent. And I want to look at the draw he achieved against Reshevsky in a simul -- although I've often wondered whether Sammy was aware of the publicity value that result might have. About the Wayne movie -- I didn't know there was a chess scene in *McLintock!* The film I was thinking of was *The Fighting Kentuckian,* which also happens to feature one of the few solo appearances of Oliver Hardy. (BTW, when the Duke won, did he growl, "That's checkmate, Pilgrim"?) I now realize that the list of movies with chess scenes is longer than I thought. If memory serves, the game in *The Seventh Seal* wasn't very good -- Death says, "I take your queen," and the Knight says, "I didn't see that." What a time to blunder! And in *The Thomas Crown Affair,* after a while McQueen says, "Let's play something else." You can hardly blame him: Dunaway was never more beautiful than in that film. And I guess her stroking the bishop was very distracting to Steve.

Glad you enjoyed it. I've been playing online in real time at Chess.com -- the basic membership is free, and no download is needed. That's an advantage for me, because I always feel nervous about what effect a download may have on my computer. "Chess in the movies" is a subject that has undoubtedly been done. There is *The Thomas Crown Affair,* and *Night Moves,* and a movie (whose name escapes me) starring John Wayne -- who, to my surprise, was an enthusiastic player (once, after a loss to William Windom, he delivered a right hook to the board and sent it flying). And I wonder how many people realize that the first time Humphrey Bogart appears on the screen in *Casablanca,* he's analyzing a chess position -- it was from a game that he was actually playing by mail at the time.

At ChessManiac.com there is an article, dated Dec. 31, 2013, about Stanley Kubrick. I think film buffs will find it interesting, even if they don't play chess.

Speaking of careless, a TV newscaster reporting on Bette Davis's death said that she received her first Oscar for OF HUMAN BONDAGE. She should have, but she didn't. So much for the station's research department.

I'd suggest Googling Movie Story Magazine. The first result you see may give you what you're seeking. Doing the same for Screen Romances may also help.