midnight08

Nothing that great for my tastes. Much of the usual. Glad to see that Sylvia Sidney has her day. Also looking forward to Anne Shirley. I'm disappointed in Claudette Colbert's day; all the Paramount films she made in the 1930's and not one is scheduled.

I don't think Mae West would have ever agreed to play Jean Harlow's mother. Maybe her older sister. LOL.

One more actress came to mind: Gloria Swanson. She worked for Paramount for several years. Her last Paramount film was in 1926 and she formed her own production company. She made many films thru her company then freelanced during the 1930's. She returned to Paramount for "Sunset Boulevard" in 1950.

Alice Faye didn't leave Fox due to the lack of Fallen Angel's warm reception. She left because Darryl Zanuck cut her part down to give more coverage to Linda Darnell. Alice had wanted to get away from the musicals and prove her ability as a dramatic actress. Zanuck finally relented and gave her the part in Fallen Angel. When the film was completed and Alice saw the first rushes she was horrified to see that her part was cut drastically in favor of Darnell. She packed up her belongings from her dressing room and left. She didn't return until 1962 and by then Zanuck was gone.

I know this is a bit off topic but I was thinking of William Powell and how he went from Paramount to Warner Brothers and then to MGM. He re invented himself with each studio move and received his best acclaim as Nick Charles in the Thin Man films for MGM.

Off the top of my head I can think of three people : Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Crawford was a long time MGM star that left in 1943. Some stories say it was by mutual agreement and some say Mayer let her go. She went to Warner Bros. and spent several years there before freelancing. If I'm correct her first freelance was back at MGM in 1953 for "Torch Song". Janet Gaynor was a huge star for Fox studios in the 1920's and early 1930's. She left Fox after it became 20th Century Fox . She didn't get along with Darryl Zanuck the head honcho at the studio. She signed with David Selznick and made a few more films before retiring in 1938. She returned to 20th Century Fox in 1957 for "Bernadine" with Pat Boone. Charles Farrell was also a big star at Fox, often teamed with Janet Gaynor. He was fired from Fox in 1932 and freelanced for a few years. He signed again with Fox in 1934 for 2 films then went back to freelancing. In 1938 He signed one more time with 20th Century Fox for a 2 picture deal.

I totally messed up. I had wanted to watch the three TCM premieres but I thought they were being aired tonight (May 4). They aired last night starting at 8pm. I was wondering what the viewers thought of these films. I had seen "The Silver Cord" over 20 years ago on the old AMC and wondered if this film was tied up in some legal issues which is why it was never aired before on TCM. It's an RKO film so they wouldn't have had a problem airing it. What about the other two? I hope TCM will air them again.

Doesn't anyone ever proofread these articles before publishing them? The film on line 6 is not "The Affairs of Avatol"; it's ANATOL.

Well, first off, the year of her death in the article is incorrect. It's 1983, not 1993. And I just started reading. LOL.

I have several which I've recorded and saved thru the years; Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Mae West, Alice Faye, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Robert Montgomery, Tyrone Power just to name some of them. I usually recorded them when TCM showcased them as SOTM but in the case of Alice Faye or Mae West or even Tyrone Power I would keep an eye out whenever TCM would show one of their films.

Four Devils (1928) one of only a few films the great director F.W Murneau made in the U.S.

Even though Gale Gordon looked more like the comic strip Mr. Wilson I preferred Joseph Kearns as Mr. Wilson . He had a better rapport with Dennis and I found him funnier. Gale Gordon's Mr. Wilson just didn't click and the ratings slipped.

I don't believe TCM has ever aired this film. And it's an RKO film so I don't understand why TCM wouldn't have access to it. I would also love to see it.

I watched "The Valiant" last night as I know it's Paul Muni's film debut and a rare Fox film but I found the actors very corny in delivering their lines (other than Muni himself). They were too dramatic and every word they said came out as over-emphasized. I assume it's because this film was one of the earliest talkies and the actors didn't know how to deliver their lines in a natural tone. Does anyone know why "The Woman I Love" is never shown. It's a Paul Muni film from 1937 with a great cast including Miriam Hopkins, Louis Hayward and Colin Clive in his final film role. It's an RKO film so it should be easy for TCM to obtain and there are movie reviews for it in the IMBD. So what's the problem?

I'm surprised there's no mention of "That's My Boy" which TCM premiered last night in prime time. It's a rare 1932 Columbia film that may have never been on television before. The star of the film, Richard Cromwell, reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio.