speedracer5
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Posts posted by speedracer5
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If TCM is going to do a tribute to Claude Rains, here are 3 TCM premiere showings:
CRIME WITHOUT PASSION
THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD
WHITE BANNERS
At least give us one please. Not the same movies over and over again.
I have no idea what this is about and have never even heard of it...
but I am intrigued by "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head." I'm truly hoping that the title is literally what happens in this film, that a headless man has to reclaim his head. If this is a more figurative title... well that is disappointing to say the least.
I'm also hoping for the other two films to premiere. More films with Claude Rains is never a bad thing.
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Bea Arthur as Lina Lamont.
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In addition to Miss Grant Takes Richmond and The Fuller Brush Girl, another of Lucy's funniest movies is one of her earliest leading roles: Annabel Allison in The Affairs of Annabel. This movie provided Lucy with one of her earliest opportunities to show off her comedic skills. She's hilarious as the actress forced into one wacky publicity scheme after another by her wacky agent, Jack Oakie. The sequel, Annabel Takes a Tour isn't nearly as good as the first one.
I'm always of the opinion that any movie with Lucy in it is worth watching. Even in the most mediocre film, usually Lucy's contributions are worthwhile.
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I'm watching Deception right now (got it via Netflix) with Bette Davis, Claude Rains and Paul Henreid.
There's really not much point to this thread other than to say...
I love Claude Rains.
He is amazing. In this film, he's playing "the heavy," the scorned ex-lover of Bette Davis. Rains is so versatile. He can play a more flamboyant villain like Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood or portray the heartwrenching Mr. Skeffington in the film of the same name. He has such a great voice and is such a wonderful actor, it's a shame he never won one of the Oscars he was nominated for.
He and Bette Davis had a great partnership in a good number of films. I think my favorite is probably Mr. Skeffington but I love Now, Voyager as well.
In Deception, while Bette Davis is as good as usual, this is really Rains' film. Paul Henreid is "meh" to me. The real action is the drama between Davis and Rains.
I'm hoping Rains gets a SUTS day this year.
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As much as I love Lucille Ball, I would have recast Mame and replaced her with Angela Lansbury who played Mame on Broadway. Lucille Ball, while I imagine her bad singing on I Love Lucy was played up for effect, was definitely not a singer like Angela Lansbury. Mame would have been a much better film if Lansbury was able to reprise her role alongside Bea Arthur.
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I'm a big fan of Orson Welles. It seems with him, people either love him or hate him.
I love him. He was way ahead of his time and his films are fascinating. His radio shows are great too. He also had that great voice and it seems a pretty good sense of humor--after all, he did guest star as himself on an episode of I Love Lucy and allowed Lucy to screw up his magic act. I also saw him on an episode of The Dick Cavett Show and he was hilarious. Last, but not least, he also appeared as a movie bigwig in one of my favorite movies ever, The Muppet Movie, where he signed Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, et. al. to the "standard Rich and Famous" contract.
My favorite of Welles' directing films are Citizen Kane and The Lady From Shanghai and my favorite of his acting films is Tomorrow is Forever, The Third Man and The Muppet Movie.
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Dorothy McGuire was in "A Summer Place" with Sandra Dee.
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Eddie Murphy plays everyone in 12 Angry Men
I would pay to see this film.
(Well maybe not big theater new release money, but maybe second run theater money).
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This thread is not intended to be a counter thread to any of the "least liked about TCM" threads, it's merely a thread intended to discuss a person's work that you discovered (and enjoyed) as a result of TCM and as a result, were able to seek out a person's work, whether through the TCM schedule, or Fox Movies, or Netflix or whatever. I don't mean which person you already were exposed to and got to see more of, but someone who you were brand new to before seeing them in a film on TCM.
I know that as someone at the younger end of the age spectrum here at the boards, there are many films and people I've discovered that might be a "been there, done that" for someone else. I didn't grow up with only the major three network channels as options. Old movies scheduled Saturday afternoons weren't something I grew up with. The closest memory of that I have is AMC playing Laurel and Hardy Saturday mornings and the New Years Eve/Day marathons of The Marx Brothers and Three Stooges' films. I haven't been as saturated in the old movie world as others here were. Some people here, it seems, are jaded by the offerings of TCM. I, on the other hand, am always finding new films, new directors, new performers, etc. that are interesting to me.
Anyway, to get to the point of my thread. When I was younger (like early teens in the late 90s when TCM wasn't a premium channel like it seems to be now), we had TCM. I remember the fun I had watching some of the actors I did know about (my favorite Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart), but then I remember watching random movies when I was sick and becoming enthralled with the actors that starred and loving the film itself. For some reason, I discover the greatest films while sick (All About Eve, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Holiday Inn, just to name a few).
Anyway, because of TCM, I discovered Claudette Colbert. The first film I saw her in was the ubiquitous It Happened One Night. I found Colbert completely charming and really enjoyed her work. I wanted to see more of her films. Unfortunately, I think we lost TCM after awhile, because it moved to a higher tier cable package than my parents wanted to pay for. I went years without TCM and didn't see any more of Colbert, except when one time, I believe that AMC did a Ma and Pa Kettle marathon and started it with The Egg and I. Again, I found Colbert charming and loved her. Now, thanks to joint efforts between Netflix and TCM, I've been able to see many more of Colbert's films.
Another performer (performers) I discovered through TCM was the amazing duo of William Powell and Myrna Loy. I saw them in, of course, The Thin Man. They were so charming and such a delight that not only did I want to see all six of 'The Thin Man' films, but all of the films in their fourteen collaborations. The only film of theirs I haven't yet watched is The Great Ziegfeld. Now, I seek out both Powell and Loy, individually.
Who are some people you've discovered through TCM?
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Now I feel better.
I'm glad. I wouldn't want you to lose sleep
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Of course, if it's delicious pizza it will not be Little Caear's pizza.
Lol. No. Unless I'd already washed down a few beers then it'd probably taste "AMA-ZING" lol. I think I'd rather watch "Little Caesar" than eat it-- with Little Caesar's you might as well eat cardboard with some melted cheese and grease on it.
You notice in old films how nobody eats pizza? The earliest Hollywood production I can think of that even mentions pizza is an episode of "I Love Lucy" where the gang visits an Italian restaurant and Ricky and Fred order pizza with a side of spaghetti (Can't say I've ever eaten the two together).
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Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler?
...and Desi Arnaz 'is' Hamlet!
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Can anyone tell me how the film compares to the Ayn Rand's novel? I haven't seen or watched either, but feel like I want to? (possibly, I'm not sure, lol). All I've ever heard about Rand's novel is that it's "dense." But is it "dense bad" or "dense good" ?
Is it worth it to watch the movie instead of read the book or vice versa? Or are both worth skipping? or worth viewing?
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..but it certainly contributes to whetting my appetite for some good pizza.
That's what I was thinking during this thread. I want to watch Little Caesar with Edward G. Robinson, have some delicious pizza and wash it down with a good beer or hard cider or something.
This is a movie night I will have to plan. Thanks for the inspiration MissWonderly!
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Ak! I'm no longer the first pinned!
I'm sorry! This is only temporary! I promise. When the contest ends on June 4, I'll request that these be unpinned and you'll be back on top again!
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I watched a documentary on Rita Hayworth a year or two ago on TCM and it was very interesting. With her looks and talent, one would think she would have it made in Hollywood. However, like many of the stars who seem to "have it all," she had many personal issues, not all her fault, but ones that led to great stress in her life. I believe the stress, combined with her alcoholism contributed greatly to the seemingly rapid decline in her looks.
Hayworth suffered from an inferiority complex and had difficulties dealing with the movie business. After all, she also was queen at Columbia for awhile and had to deal with Harry Cohn often. From what I've read about Cohn, I can imagine dealing with him all the time would be stressful. She also had a tendency to marry mean personalities. I believe only Orson Welles (whom she called "the great love of [her] life") didn't physically harm her or try to take advantage of her financially. Welles and Hayworth just had incompatible personalities. She was married and divorced 5 times. Fourth husband Dick Haymes just about wiped her out financially, she ended up having to pay many of his debts including back alimony to Errol Flynn's Ex-Wife #2 who became Mrs. Dick Haymes' Ex-Wife #3. Hayworth wanted to retire from films in the early 60s, but husband #5 insisted on her continuing to work. She was forced to because she was in such dire straits, financially.
With all this personal and financial drama going on, her heavy drinking only continued. In the early 1960s, she began showing very early signs of the then-little known Alzheimer's. It's not that Alzheimer's was unknown, it's just that there wasn't much known about it in order to be able to sufficiently diagnose it. For a period of about 20 years, Hayworth's condition slowly deteriorated. While I'm sure the heavy drinking only exacerbated whatever symptoms she was exhibiting, her behavior wasn't all her doing. By the mid-70s, Hayworth's condition had gotten to a point where she was forced to retire from films, because she was no longer able to remember dialogue and had to film one line at a time. By the early 80s, doctors were able to finally diagnose her with Alzheimer's. At this point, she was unable to care for herself and her daughter took on the responsibility of caring for her until her death in 1987.
The documentary was very interesting, but very sad. Rita Hayworth portrayed such vivacious and charming women on screen, but off screen, her life was very different.
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For some reason, I think the Technicolor made her look older. Also, she wasn't lit brightly enough and her darker looking skin made her look older. But note that in the Black and White still from the same movie, she looks much younger.
I have noticed that with Hayworth. She's a gorgeous woman, but for whatever reason, I think she photographs better in black and white. Which is crazy, seeing that she was known for her gorgeous red hair. She's beautiful in Gilda but in Cover Girl (filmed 3 years earlier), the Technicolor almost makes her look like a different person. I really enjoy the Gene Kelly/Rita Hayworth collaboration in the film and she has some great moments, but again, the makeup doesn't do her any favors. Could it be that for whatever reason, her studio couldn't figure out the best way to do her makeup and lighting? Her red hair sometimes looks out of place with the makeup she's wearing. Lucille Ball on the other hand, with pretty much the same shade of red hair, photographed beautifully in Technicolor over at MGM.
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Are posters complaining that an older looking Hayworth is not a believable Sadie, or are they just put off that Hayworth as Sadie no longer looked like Gilda?
Hayworth was a damn fine looking woman in Miss Sadie Thompson. The fact that she looked experienced and a little weary takes NOTHING away from her credibility in the part, in my opinion. I still think it's one of her best performances.
My issue with Hayworth's appearance isn't her actual physical looks, 'Sadie Thompson' is 7 years later than Gilda. I would expect her to look a little older. I still think she's a beautiful woman, for me, it's the makeup she's wearing. It's not flattering. Now if it were Rita who wanted to achieve a certain look for her character through makeup, lighting, sweat, etc, I can respect that decision and perhaps look at the film differently the second time around. My issue however, is mostly that 'Sadie Thompson' doesn't grab me. Even Hayworth can't make it more interesting.
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I think I have found a solution to the rules post being separated from the challenge post and just keeping the posts at the top of the board for easy access!
I PM'd the Moderator asking if it would be possible to have the two posts pinned at the top of the board for the duration of the contest and they said that would be fine. I'm going to send the links to the Moderator to get this done!
Hopefully this will make things easier!
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I would post the schedules in this thread :-)
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So Speedy, you mean in 1954(and while Sabrina was being filmed) and when "fashion designer to the stars", Don Loper, introduces Brenda Marshall as "Mrs. William Holden" wearing his latest creation in that one episode of "I Love Lucy" titled "The Fashion Show", that maybe Mr. Don SHOULD have instead introduced her as "The Estranged Mrs. William Holden" or maybe even "The Soon-To-Be Former Mrs. William Holden"???
(...figured you especially might find this ironically funny, seein' as how you're such a big fan of that show)
He definitely should have! I read a William Holden biography last year that even though Holden and Marshall were married 30 years, legally, they spent most of the marriage separate and involved with other people. But they also reconciled and broke up a lot too. I guess you can't fault them for trying huh? Maybe they should have gotten Audrey Hepburn instead and had Loper introduce her as "The Hopeful Mrs. William Holden." Lol.
Marshall was a very pretty woman, but I've seen her in a few films (including two with Errol!) and she's very bland. Not really anything to write home about, acting wise.
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One terrible film I love is UHF. Granted, the film stars Weird Al, so I'm not sure if it's intentionally supposed to be bad, but the production values are pretty low, which makes it even funnier.
Reefer Madness is hilarious, I love that movie.
I'll also have to admit that I love Xanadu.
Roller Boogie is pretty bad, but who doesn't love movies featuring roller disco? That's part of the reason I love Xanadu so much. I think Xanadu is better than Roller Boogie, if only because there are higher caliber stars (Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John) and better music. If only Kelly and Newton-John had teamed up in some type of dance contest.
I think it all depends on the viewer as to whether they can set aside the fact that they're not watching a masterpiece and instead look at the absurdity as hilarious and entertaining as opposed to finding it a waste of time. Sometimes films, despite all their flaws, have that certain something that keeps you entertained, or maybe there are funny gags, or dialogue so ridiculous that it's funny, or the film has some type of charm or something. I don't know if I can really explain it. I think films either "click" for you or don't.
I'm not a big fan of science fiction, but I love the terrible sci-fi movies of the 50s and 60s and the cheesy horror movies of the 70s and 80s. They're just so unintentionally hilarious that they're highly entertaining.
My husband and I just watched Barbarella recently. That movie made no sense and was ridiculous but was oddly entertaining. I have no idea why. I really liked the music. Lol.
Logan's Run is another of those cheesy 70s movies that is so ridiculous that it's funny. Except I think Logan's Run went on just a bit too long. It's sad to think that I'm now the age where I would have had to sacrifice myself to "Carousel" if I didn't become a "runner."
I also love Mommie Dearest. I know it's over the top, completely ridiculous and I'm sure parts of it are untrue. However, it is probably one of the campiest movies ever and I love it. Is it bad that I felt bad for Joan Crawford during most of the film? Christina was lame!
NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!
"So Bad They're Good" movies belong in their own genre, a genre I love very much.
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I am a fan of Rita Hayworth and love her movies, especially Gilda, Cover Girl and You Were Never Lovelier, this movie just didn't do anything for me. While I love seeing Rita in Technicolor... I don't know what the makeup artists did to her, she didn't look as gorgeous as she does in other films of hers. The makeup and lighting makes her look older than I bet she actually looked in real life.
Maybe I'll need to watch it again next time it's on to see if my opinion is still the same. I want to like it because I'm such a big fan of Rita Hayworth, but my initial impressions of it were that Hayworth didn't look good and the film was kind of boring.
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Cary Grant would have rocked that part. Although then the story would have been over at the beginning-- who wouldn't pick Cary Grant first, at any age?
I must say, like some of you, I adore Bogie in that role and think it's the perfect "didn't see that coming", since Bogie seems like an old guy no one would fall for. In real life, though, of course, he DID win the heart of a very young very gorgeous lady, so it is a realistic ending, isn't it?
While I do find Bogart a tad too old for the part of Linus, I love the movie. I can't even recognize the remake. The original is so charming and such fun that I don't want to see the updated version.
It'd be interesting if Cary Grant were Linus, would Holden have still been cast as younger brother David? Oh my. I wouldn't have wanted to be Audrey Hepburn in that situation, I don't know if I could have chosen between Grant and Holden--I think both are very attractive.
BTW: Slightly off topic... Apparently there is a book out about Audrey Hepburn and William Holden's romance on the set of this film. It's called Audrey and Bill: A Romantic Biography of Audrey Hepburn and William Holden by Edward Z. Epstein. I understand that Hepburn and Holden were pretty hot and heavy on the set. Hepburn only broke off the relationship when she learned that Holden was no longer capable of helping to produce children. Holden's marriage to Brenda Marshall was pretty much over, despite it technically lasting 30 years.
Favorite Performers/Directors/Composers/Etc. That You Discovered Because of TCM
in General Discussions
Posted
Thanks MissWonderly. While I saw the odd classic movie here and there, like the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz around Thanksgiving, for example, the only way I was really able to watch them was via AMC, before they had all their original programming and switched their format to playing literally the same movie 4 times in a row (You think TCM plays North By Northwest or Roman Holiday too much, at least TCM repeats them on different days!). I remember Nick Clooney's introductions, I always enjoyed his intros. I also used to love watching the Biography program on A&E (before they switched to the all "reality" show format).
Anyway, I digress...
While people seem to be dissatisfied with what TCM is or is not showing, over all, it's been a great avenue to see all kinds of great old films, some classics, some classic only in the sense that they're old, but overall, I've discovered so many entertaining films. Thank goodness for Netflix (Online Streaming and DVD rental), it's like having an enormous video store at your finger tips, I've been able to supplement TCM and Netflix's offerings with each other.
Another person I've discovered thanks to TCM is director Otto Preminger. For whatever reason, prior to seeing a Preminger film, every time I heard his name, it conjured up ideas of really serious films (which aren't a bad thing) or really artsy films. I'm not sure if I can describe what type of films I was imagining someone with the name "Otto Preminger" would make. I didn't realize the variety in the type of films he directed.
Because of TCM, I've discovered many films that I really enjoyed, only to find out that Preminger directed them:
Laura
Where the Sidewalk Ends
The Moon is Blue
River of No Return
The Man With the Golden Arm
...just to name a few.
I love the style of his movies. He seemed to enjoy a fruitful collaboration with Gene Tierney, another person I've discovered thanks to TCM.
Another actress I discovered thanks to recommendations on this board (which we wouldn't have without TCM) is Jean Arthur.
It seems on this board, people either like her or are irritated by her voice. I find her froggy voice oddly charming. It's unusual, but not unusual in an annoying way like Andy Devine's is. The first film I saw her in was The Ex-Mrs. Bradford co-starring a favorite of mine, William Powell (who TCM also helped me discover). While she was similar to Powell's frequent co-star, Myrna Loy, Arthur definitely had her own persona. While Loy's characters are typically a little more sophisticated and upper crust, but with a kooky streak; Arthur's more middle class and daffy. Both ladies ooze charm. I've also seen Arthur in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but I didn't enjoy her co-starred with James Stewart as much as I did with Powell. I don't know why. However, I loved her with Cary Grant and Ronald Colman in Talk of the Town and Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier.
Lately, I've just been working working working... coming home late and working working working on my house. I haven't had time to watch much TCM
Thank goodness for DVR.