midnight08

I wish TCM would show the original version "An American Tragedy" from 1931 starring Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney instead of repeatedly showing this version with Taylor and Clift.

Does anyone know if Fox Studios (pre 20th Century Fox) had a logo? I don't remember any. From what I remember Warner Bros. had their big sign with the WB appearing, MGM had their lion, Paramount had the mountain, Columbia had lady liberty, RKO had the radio signal, Universal had various logos and 20th Century Fox had their logo.

As much as I want to, I just can't get into Kay Francis. I know she's very popular on this forum but I just can't find the enthusiasm for her. I've watched some of her movies with a sincere desire to like her but she does nothing for me. Another actress whose popularity I don't understand is Marlene Dietrich. I've tried sitting thru some of her most famous movies but I get bored with her.

I agree with "cigarjoe" that the visuals were the funniest part of the film. Imagine the movie audience in 1937 watching the trick photography; it must have been a great novelty. I thought Constance Bennett was ok with the comedy although I feel she was more suited to drama and soap opera type films. I had read that originally Jean Harlow was chosen for the part of Marian but then she got sick and died. I think that Jean would have been a lot funnier and more compatible with Cary Grant than Constance.

Very tragic and very sad. She was another young starlet just beginning the road to stardom when she was killed. If not for "Little Miss Marker" she would be all but forgotten today. She had great promise and potential. How ironic that she dated Russ Columbo who died in a freak gun accident. Carole Lombard (who also dated Russ) took over Dell's role in "Now And Forever" and was killed in a plane crash less than eight years later. Three beautiful people with looks and talent all taken away so young.

Never mind. I checked my DVD collection and I do have it so "Rose Of Washington Square" must have been shown in the last few years on TCM. I must have had a senior moment there. LOL.

A few posts back there was mention made of Alice Faye in "Rose Of Washington Square" being on TCM a few years back. Can anyone tell me with any certainty exactly when this movie aired on TCM? I'm a big Alice Faye fan and I remember TCM showing both "In Old Chicago" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" but I never remember "Rose Of Washington Square" ever being shown. I have an old tape of it from AMC. I'm positive if it had been on TCM I would have known about it and taped it.

Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride Donald O'Connor and Francis the Talking Mule And here's a really old, old screen team: John Bunny and Flora Finch (anyone ever heard of them)? By the way, screen teams didn't always get along great with each other. Just because they were "screen teams" didn't make them best friends. Many times they were placed together for box office appeal. Case in point: Boris and Bela. Bela was jealous as Boris was the more popular star. On the "small screen" look at Vivian Vance and William Frawley. They HATED one another yet they were a screen team from 1951 till 1960. That takes some damn good acting.

Actually "Sepiatone" I had a book from the early 1970's written by Leonard Maltin on movies and in the book were two pages of photos of what he called "screen teams". And Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were pictured among the other screen teams (such as Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler). So if you disagree take it up with Leonard Maltin. LOL. After all, isn't he the last word on everything to do with the movies?

I know that TCM did show the silent version of "All Quiet On The Western Front" a few years ago as I have it recorded (although I don't know if it was the 2012 restoration). I'll have to look at it again but if I remember correctly there were some differences between the silent and sound versions which Robert O. pointed out in his intro. I'll have to look at it again to see if I'm correct.

In response to Fred's question I believe TCM will show the silent version of "Gone With The Wind" right after they show the sound version of "The Artist".

Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor and even though they only appeared in 3 movies together many people think of Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler as a team

Clark Gable and Joan Crawford Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello

If I remember correctly Mario Lanza's wife was so heartbroken over his sudden death that she herself died less than a year after him.

I didn't stay up to watch the entire movie but the opening credits of the silent version listed Beryl Mercer as Paul's mother so I assume Zasu Pitts was totally cut out after the preview audiences supposedly laughed at her performance.

This isn't any complaint about TCM but I was wondering why I have never seen them show the original "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. They've shown the original Frankenstein, Bride Of Frankenstein, Son Of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and even Dracula's Daughter but I don't remember ever seeing the original Dracula on TCM. And I've had TCM since 1995. Another of the old Universal horror films which is rarely shown (I've never seen it on TCM) is Werewolf Of London (1935). I actually prefer it to The Wolf Man.

In response to "TikiSoo" : I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm glad to have TCM however I'm disillusioned with the repetitiveness. In reply he/she said that they find it amusing at the people who gripe about a cable station. I wasn't griping. And besides, when you are paying the extra cost for cable stations you should expect something from it. It would be different if it was a basic station. I pay a lot of money for the cable package I have simply to have TCM. When I mentioned that TCM ought to have some of the curators from either the Library Of Congress, George Eastman House or UCLA Film Archives come on an occasional basis to show some of the movies from their archives "TikiSoo" replied that TCM is not a film festival and if us film buffs want to see rare old movies we should get out more and attend the film festivals. I didn't say that TCM should have this often; I said "occasional". What's wrong with that? I mentioned in an earlier post that many of us don't have the financial means or time to go across other states or across the country to attend these festivals (as much as we would love to). I went to NYC twice (in 2005 and 2006) to attend the pre code festivals at Film Forum. They had a Paramount pre code festival in 2005 and a Fox pre code festival in 2006. Both festivals lasted from 14-16 days with either one of two films being shown each day. How many people can afford to go for that length of time? I had to pick and choose which few movies I wanted to see the most as I could only afford to stay a few days each time. Between the cost of travel, hotel, food and other misc. expenses it cost me a small fortune for those few days. I'm glad I went. Many other people don't have the money for this. It's a luxury they can't afford.

"Fxreyman" counted 4 films from the 1920's and 11 films from the 1930's in January prime time. That's correct. However of the 1930's films some of these are the Marx Bros. who had a movie marathon on New Years Day, some of them were Frank Capra films which TCM is showing repeatedly along with Twentieth Century which TCM has been showing quite a bit in the last few years. The only really good 1930's prime timers for January are Svengali and Counsellor At Law (which I'll say are some welcome films). Of the four 1920's films, one of them is Metropolis which has also had repeated showing for the past few years. Yes, they show older films but for the most part they are the same ones over and over and over. Some of the posters here have brought up some good points. Most importantly are budget constraints. Considering that Turner's other stations laid off personnel I'm sure TCM has had to buckle down on its own budget less they also face lay-offs. The newer moves are possibly being brought into the line-up to induce more people and a younger crowd to watch TCM. It would be interesting to know how many of the younger viewers are into the older versus newer movies being shown. Another interesting point is whether the money used for guest programmers and "the Essensials" could be used for better purposes; namely bringing in some premieres and movies from other studios. Although I'm sure I'll "be attacked" by some posters for this comment I really don't understand the value of the guest programmers. I personally don't care whether Cher, Drew, Alex or Judge Judy discuss their pick of films with the TCM host. If it's a film that I'm not interested in or that I've seen several times I'm not going to watch it because of the guest programmer. In fact, I'd be more interested to have some of the loyal viewers of TCM thru the past two decades come in as guest programmers. I'd appreciate their opinions and views much more than some celebrity. If they keep up the guest programming we'll have Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton giving their picks of movies and why they picked them (just kidding). One last reflection; when I saw the intros and endings with Matthew Broderick I wondered whether this was some kind of joke or humor which I didn't understand. He was SOOOOO bad! Bland, boring and simply awful. I can't believe the station allowed these intros. He should be ashamed.

I think that "Topbilled" is missing the point. I don't want to start an in depth discussion of this but the point of me starting this thread was to see if anyone else felt the way I do. There's no reason to try and dissect and analyze it. It's just my opinion; it's not good and it's not bad. I'm glad we have TCM as there's nothing else out there equivalent to it. I'm just disillusioned with the repetitiveness of the movies. In the past TCM has had some wonderful presentations which I don't see anymore. I remember when they showed a number of restored films from the Library Of Congress including "The Trespasser" with Gloria Swanson and "The Valiant" with Paul Muni. It's a shame that TCM can't get curators from the LOC, George Eastman House and UCLA Film Archives on an occasional basis to bring a few of their restored films to TCM and discuss them with either Robert O. Or Ben. To try and analyze and dissect this is overkill. There will be people who agree and people who don't. That's fine. I didn't start this thread to whine and look for other whiners.

Even though TCM is continuing to show a large number of movies from the 1930's and 40's they are the same movies shown over and over again. And the majority of these 30's and 40's movies are shown in either the morning or the wee hours of the morning. When TCM showed "The Letter" with Jeannie Eagels for the first time (after several years of legal entanglements which kept this gem off the screen) they showed it at 6AM. This movie deserved a prime time slot with comments by Robert Osborne. Likewise with the 1931 version of "Waterloo Bridge". The first time TCM showed it was several years ago at 4:30AM. Why? A previous poster mentioned that the prime time TCM hours are so boring that they don't even bother watching anymore. I agree. Oscar month is especially boring. That's the month which I watch the least. I do understand that TCM has to do some cost cutting measures and that's probably why we aren't seeing anything new in the way of premieres or rarities from the other studios vaults. It's such a shame as there are so many rare gems fully restored sitting in mothballs for the occasional showing at a film festival. Why bother restoring these films if the majority of the viewers interested in these films don't have access to them? Most of us don't have the financial means to travel for these festivals. When I went to NYC in 2005 and 2006 to see the pre code festivals at Film Forum I could only afford to stay a few days each time. I wish I would have recorded more movies from the old AMC and from TCM years ago. I suppose I just thought that things would get better and better. Eventually though it reached its peak and is now on the downside. As Fred mentioned we had two wonderful classic cable movie stations at one time and now we have the equivalent of one half a station. It's sad.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I'm losing hope that TCM will ever show more films from Paramount, Universal and Fox from the 1930's. Several years ago there was a lot of discussion about a deal TCM made with Universal. I'm not sure of the details (or if this deal was ever totally agreed upon and finalized) but I assumed I'd begin to start seeing such stars as Clara Bow, Sylvia Sidney, Nancy Carroll, Buddy Rogers and seeing more films of Gary Cooper, Mae West, WC Fields and Carole Lombard. There was a trickle of films that were shown and that was it. Yes, I know that TCM has shown some Mae West but they always show the same films. They've never shown "Every Day's A Holiday", "Goin To Town" or "Go West Young Man". They've shown some WC Fields movies but that was several years ago. And he made several films for Paramount before leaving for Universal in 1939. I was also hoping that TCM would obtain more access to 20th Century Fox's collection. I was especially hoping to see some of the Fox films (pre 1936) which are rarities. They did show a few here and there but that's it. Lately the schedule is MGM, RKO and Warner Bros. Even when they have a star of the month such as Cary Grant or William Powell they show the movies easily obtained from the aforementioned studios. As I watch the schedules month after month I lose hope that any of these rare gems will ever be broadcast on TCM. I know that everyone has their own tastes and that many people are happy and satisfied with TCM's selections. I'm not saying that I'm unsatisfied; I just wish that they could get some of these film rarities from the other studios. Maybe the other studios have no interest in leasing them to TCM. I don't know. It's just very disillusioning.

In the birthdays for today Norma Varden's year of death is given as 2001. She actually died in 1989. When I originally saw it I thought she made it to 103 until I checked the IMD.

"Lights Of New York" , the first all talking motion picture is airing early in the morning tomorrow January 7. If I'm correct it's been over ten years since it was last shown on TCM. I've seen it before. It's less than an hour long and although it's not a great movie it's historical being the first all talking film. Personally I find it a lot better than "The Jazz Singer" which was a hokey story even back in 1927. I'm glad it's still in existence as most of the talkies and part talkies from 1928 are "lost".

Yes, thanks so much "Topbilled" for the short bio on Lew. I always liked him and thought him a good actor who could handle many different roles. Unfortunately I don't think he has been recognized for his large body of work. He was in some well known movies going back to MGM's last silent with Greta Garbo. I'd like to know a little more about his private life. I wonder what happened to his marriages to Lola Lane and Ginger Rogers. If I remember correctly he was married less than two years to Lane. I thought Ginger and Lew made a nice couple. Maybe her fame and success overshadowed his which caused some friction in their marriage. I know he was married a third time after many years and had a child later in life. Does anyone know anything about his son?

Can we return to talking about Lew Ayres before the administrator locks this thread? Honestly, can't you posters stick to the topic instead of bashing each other? I would hope you would all have better things to do.