misswonderly3

This fun thread, which was so active for so many months, is languishing, Thought I'd try and liven it up a bit with a couple of comments. First, don't forget, folks, to watch or record *Quicksand*, tonight ( Thursday Dec. 9 ) at 6:30. Starring Mickey Rooney as a garage mechanic (or "grease monkey" as they were known then), it's an exciting ride down the noir vortex of greed, lust, and crime. Well, that makes it sound pretty heavy duty, and Mickey's greed, lust, and crime sins are pretty innocuous in comparison with many noirs. But that doesn't matter: it's a fun little film, with good scenes featuring car mechanic shops, diners, carnivals, and mean streets. Good stuff. Also, I've watched a few more films from my " Noir Volume 5" boxed set. The best two so far both, coincidentally, feature the same actor, Steve Brodie. He's a classic noir victim of circumstances in *Desperate*, and a minor character, a petty crook, in *Armoured Car Robbery*. Both of these films are quite good. I love William Talman's extremely mean criminal mastermind character in *Armoured Car Robbery.* Any comments?

More homework ! Forget it !

Well, tonight at 6:30 they're airing something we'll all probably like: *Quicksand*, with Mickey Rooney in a nifty little noir role. This lesser known film noir is very good, lots of fun, watch out for fur coats and Peter Lorre, his usual enjoyable creepy self, as a carnival operator.

(SPOILER if you haven't seen *Little Miss Sunshine:*) He was great in *Little Miss Sunshine* - in fact, he was so good, I had to double check just now to make sure he was still alive, because his character died in that film . Arkin is not only a good actor, he's a good comedian. He's hilarious in LMS.

It's very snowy in southern Ontario -snowy and cold. I can't remember a worse December. Time to listen to Dean Martin. There are many versions of "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm", including a nice moody one by Billie Holiday. But Dino sounds so relaxed, so mellowed out, I had to go with his. There's no video, but you'll be busy sipping on your martini, so no matter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUvf53p_x2M Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 9, 2010 9:28 AM

And perhaps Handel was thinking of James Stewart in that bit in the Hallelujah Chorus where they sing "Wonderful ! Marvelous ! "....oh, no, I've sort of mashed it up with George Gershwin.

although frankly, you'd rather have been.

I never knew that. I've never heard that expression - wonder if it's limited to the U.S. of A. ? Sorry , finance, Shirley you didn't think I was implying such a thing of you. I honestly thought it was just the character in the song (whose main underhanded activity seems to be of a more romantic than legal nature.)

I always thought that must have been kind of on purpose..."You loved him in *It's a Wonderful World*...see how wonderful Jimmy Stewart can be in "It's a Wonderful Life" ! You'll laugh, you''ll cry, you'll shout "It's Wonderful !!!" Maybe deceive people into thinking it was some kind of sequel - nah, it came out too many years later (later, after "Wonderful World" )

There's nothing to be lost about. The song posted just previously by Mr. Bogle was called The Philadelphia Lawyer", who, apparently, comes to a bad end. All you have to do is click the link and listen to the song. I thought you might identify with the poor gentleman's fate, since you are a) a lawyer and a Philadelphian. lol lol lol : )

Also, in view of the tax-write-off attempt, with the wish for *Marty* to fail, perhaps we should also pay tribute to *The Producers*. (Wonder if Mel Brooks had heard that story...)

finance, better watch out; take heed to what happens to the Philadelphia lawyer ( I believe you qualify as such an individual on both counts.)

MacaulayConnor - hey, welcome ! I have seen *Come Live With Me*, and I agree, it's a great example of what I was trying to say about Stewart being "sexy". It's a nice little film, too. And Hedy Lamarr ! What a beauty ! wanderingchild, I think people got the idea that James Stewart had a goofy voice, or at least a goofy way of speaking, from his earlier performances, in which he kind of bumbles and stammers. He gradually lost that vocal style, and by the time you get to *Rope* and the Anthony Mann Westerns, he's worlds apart from the "shucks, you ought to know what I mean..." earnest young man that you see in his 30s work (which I like just as much as his later films - just saying, he changed.) But yeah, I love his voice and the way he speaks. On another thread, someone mentions his drunk in the pool scene with Katharine Hepburn from The *Philadelphia Story*. He's so good in that scene ; he conveys all the myriad confusing emotions his character is experiencing, and at the same time, he's great fun to watch. The other film I've seen recently that got me thinking about James Stewart ( besides the aforementioned *Mortal Storm*) is *It's a Wonderful World*, which I'd recorded when it was aired not too long ago, but which I hadn't gotten around to seeing until a few days ago. It's classic early(ish) James Stewart - decent, no-nonsense, game for whatever needs to get done - but with a hint of the harder, more cynical Stewart we'll see some years later.

C.B., you are once again drawing attention to your Communist sympathies. Was not Mr. Guthrie a "fellow travellor" / (What exactly is such a thing, anyway? ) I could definitely use some more "Do Re Mi" myself, especially at this time of year. $ $ $

...But that can't be the complete list - there are some good films that are still to be release in 2010. Richard Lewis' *Barney's Version*, based on the Mordecai Richler novel, should at least be given consideration. Now to be honest, I haven't seen it yet, it's to be released just berfore Christmas (where I live, anyway). However, from everything I hear about it, it should be on some kind of possible Oscar nomination list.

I haven't seen *Convicted* , but I'd like to (sometimes, whether it'd due to the airing time of the film or some other reason, I miss something I'd normally make a point of watching or recording.). Glenn Ford is usually, good, I like him in both noirs and Westerns - I think he's an under-rated actor. As for *Pushover*, I don't hate it or anything. I was just a little disappointed, my expectations for any noir title are usually pretty high. Of course, there are mediocre noirs as there are mediocre films in any genre. And you know what? - I'd rather see a mediocre noir than a less-than-outstanding movie of any other type. If I don't like the story or characters, I can always sit back and enjoy the shadows, the mise-en-scene, and those great fedora hats. MFF, yes, Carey and Malone made a more believable and nicer couple. Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 8, 2010 1:32 PM

Sorry, mark, I am not a pushover for *Pushover*. It just doesn't "work" for me. I don't sense any "chemistry" between MacMurray and Novak, and the window-spying business is clumsily done and just strikes me as silly. I wanted to like it, but in my mind it's definitely a lesser noir.

Today is, of course, the anniversary of John Lennon's death. I'm sure the radio stations will be playing tunes such as "Imagine" and other moving melodies from his solo career, but I think most of his best songs were written with the Beatles. My favourite Beatles album right now (it changes ) is Revolver. Lennon contributed some great stuff to that, including" Tomorrow Never Knows" (a musical iconoclast ) and "And Your Bird Can Sing". I'm posting the latter. Delicious guitar riffing and sweet classic Beatles harmonies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p2XIfOO-TY ( I suspect this is an abbreviated version - didn't know that when I posted it, sorry.) Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 8, 2010 11:17 AM

MacaulayConnor - hey, welcome ! I have seen *Come Live With Me*, and I agree, it's a great example of what I was trying to say about Stewart being "sexy". It's a nice little film, too. And Hedy Lamarr ! What a beauty ! wanderingchild, I think people got the idea that James Stewart had a goofy voice, or at least a goofy way of speaking, from his earlier performances, in which he kind of bumbles and stammers. He gradually lost that vocal style, and by the time you get to *Rope* and the Anthony Mann Westerns, he's worlds apart from the "shucks, you ought to know what I mean..." earnest young man that you see in his 30s work (which I like just as much as his later films - just saying, he changed.) But yeah, I love his voice and the way he speaks. On another thread, someone mentions his drunk in the pool scene with Katharine Hepburn from The *Philadelphia Story*. He's so good in that scene ; he conveys all the myriad confusing emotions his character is experiencing, and at the same time, he's great fun to watch.

MyFavouriteFilms: What you say about the introductions, the "outros", the comments by Osborne and Mankiewicz and other hosts, makes me sad. It saddens me that you so consciously and deliberately eliminate , in your recordings off of TCM, every single thing that makes the presentation of a film unique to Turner Classic Movies. The very things that you seem to loathe are the things that make me love this station. Yes, I love the movies they show for their own sake. But I also really enjoy the host's comments, the "shorts", the little promos for tcm (like the young girl making origami tcm letters), and even the ads for dvds, the tcm catalogue, etc. All these things make me feel like I am part of a bigger community, the TCM classic movie-loving community. They make me feel " cozy". It's like listening to music on the radio, instead of playing my cds. (I do both) There's a warmth to all the programming that goes on around the films tcm shows. It's like the raisins ( programming) around the coffecake ( the actual films.) The cake's the main thing, but the raisins make it more fun to consume. I get the feeling that if you could, you'd skip the station altogether and just get your movies from some other source. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. It just surprises me that despite the disdain you seem to feel for TCM - which is, after all, not just the movies alone, but that sense of "community" and shared love for old films that I was speaking of - you continue to watch it.

Van Heflen as Robert Taylor's sidekick in *Johnny Eager* plays an intellectual lush who's never sober once throughout the entire film.

Ray Milland struggling to stay off the demon drink in one of his best performances, *The Lost Weekend*

ooowhee, we are so getting down this week ! Hey, that must be the Edwin Starr who did "War !! (uegh- good god y'awll - ) What is it good for? ---Absolutely nuthin' say it say it say it...") 6 degrees of separation (or fewer) from Rufus Thomas to Carla Thomas to Carla and Otis to just plain Otis -here he is with "SHAKE ! " : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gQOulwEjiE

I guess that means we'll have to wait our turn in the Q (ueau) ! markfp2, thanks for the sensible advice - like everything in life, being reasonable and patient always helps.

I don't think James Stewart was much like Henry Fonda or Gary Cooper. He was much more interesting than either of them. No offence to Coop fans, but Stewart could act circles around him.