sineast
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Posts posted by sineast
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Gone, but not forgotten...
*Morris "Weezer" Gooch, 76, Sold Crunch Bar To Alan Ladd*
Morris "Weezer" Gooch, 76 of Rancho Smoggy, California passed away last Monday
at the age of 76 from liver problems with complications from natural alcoholic spirits.
Mr. Gooch was for many years a fixture at local movie theaters, where he worked
behind the candy counter. He worked at a number of different theaters because, as
he told co-workers, he liked to move around.
Mr. Gooch started his career at the Alhambra Theater in the early 1950s. He was
eventually promoted to assistant popcorn dispenser, and later to head popcorn
dispenser, and finally to candy, popcorn, and drink facilitator in chief. After many
years at the Alhambra, he moved over to the Nouveau Rialto Theater in Roscoe,
There he continued his stellar career, retiring in 1991 with the title of Confectionary
Director of Popcorn Distribution.
Though he thought he spied a famous movie star from time to time, all these cases,
except for one, proved to be instances of mistaken identity. But in 1961, during a
matinee showing of 101 Dalmatians, Mr. Gooch's dream came true. He described
the moment in his privately published 1993 memoir +Will That Be a Small, Medium,
or Large?+. "Well, I was dusting the candy when I heard a familiar voice ask for a
Crunch bar. I straightened up and saw a man staring me straight in the chest. The
movie-size Crunch bar had just come out and this was my first request for one, so
I was really excited. As I looked down at the man, I suddenly realized one of my
favorite stars, Alan Ladd was standing right in front of me. I could hardly speak. I
was composed enough to ask Mr. Ladd if he wanted popcorn or something to drink,
but all he wanted was the Crunch bar. He put a dollar on the counter and told me to
keep the change, and then, as fast as he had appeared he was gone. I didn't even
have the chance to tell him that the Crunch bar costs $1.14 including tax. Another
thing I noticed was that Mr. Ladd carried a small footstool with him, so he could reach
places in public. I later learned he had a small folding stool made for him so that it
wouldn't be as conspicuous as the one I saw him carrying. I looked for him after the
movie let out, but in a crowd he was difficult to pick out. But I still remember the thrill
of the afternoon when I met Laddie. It was one of the highlights of my long confectionary
career."
A memorial for Mr. Gooch will be held at the local Fanny Farmer store this Friday at
2 p.m. On Saturday all the popcorn machine heater lights will be dimmed for one
minute in his honor. Mr. Gooch never explained how his nickname originated. He
last resided at the Brentwood Rocker Home for the Aged, Infirm, and Cantankerous.
He is survived by numerous nephews and nieces, his pet goldfish Mr. Mirth, and a
Shetland pony. Funeral arrangements are pending, as his relatives are rather tight
with a dollar.
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You're welcome, Holly. Of all those early 1970s singer/songwriters, Cat Stevens is my favorite.
I tried to post Longer Boats a while back, but it didn't go through. Have to try it again in the
future. And now he has that nice little ditty for T Mobile. You go, Yusef.
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"Oh, Hector, one last chance? I've given you a hundred already. When are you going
to grow up and act like a real man."
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The artist then known as Cat Stevens with a gentle reminder that's it's a Wild World.
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An entire night of Esther Williams makes that old 500 channels bit sound good.
Thank goodness there were more interesting things to watch tonight, the tie-breaker
ballgame, Parking Wars, and paint drying.
I remember reading somewhere that when MGM auctioned off some of her old bathing
suits, turned out they were...um...padded. It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.
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I remember reading about why The Twilight Zone expanded to an hour, but didn't
remember the details. Wiki has a good summary of the whys and wherefores:
Season 4 (1963)
? You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas; you've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.[ ?
In November 1962 CBS contracted Twilight Zone (now sans the The) as a mid-season January replacement for Fair Exchange, the very show that replaced it in the September 1962 schedule. In order to fill Fair Exchange's time slot each episode had to be expanded to an hour, an idea which did not sit well with the production crew. ?Ours is the perfect half-hour show?, said Serling just a few years earlier. ?If we went to an hour, we?d have to fleshen our stories, soap opera style. Viewers could watch fifteen minutes without knowing whether they were in a Twilight Zone or Desilu Playhouse."
Herbert Hirschman was hired to replace long-time producer Buck Houghton. One of Hirschman's first decisions was to direct a new opening sequence, this one illustrating a door, eye, window and other objects suspended Magritte-like in space. His second task was to find and produce quality scripts.
This season of Twilight Zone once again turned to the reliable trio of Serling, Matheson and Beaumont. However, Serling?s input was limited this season; he still provided the lion?s-share of the teleplays, but as executive producer he was virtually absent and as host, his artful narrations had to be shot back-to-back against a gray background during his infrequent trips to Los Angeles. Due to complications from a developing brain disease, Beaumont?s input also began to diminish significantly. Additional scripts were commissioned from Earl Hamner, Jr. and Reginald Rose to fill in the gap.
With five episodes left in the season, Hirschman received an offer to work on a new NBC series called Espionage and was replaced by Bert Granet, who had previously produced "The Time Element". Among Granet?s first assignments was "On Thursday We Leave for Home", which Serling considered the season's most effective episode. There was an Emmy nomination for cinematography, and a nomination for the Hugo Award. The show returned to its half-hour format for the fall schedule.
The suits strike again. As far as I know, the hour Hitchcock episodes were written on purpose
for that allotted time. There were some hour-long episodes that were good. One of the best I
remember starred Dana Wynter as a nurse who was attending to a patient in a spooky old
house while there was a serial killer on the loose. It is reminiscent in atmosphere to +The
Spiral Staircase+ and was very well done.
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The half-hour format was perfect for a show which often depended on a last-minute twist.
That's why the hour-long episodes usually don't work as well. It's similar to Alfred
Hitchcock's television show. The half-hour episodes were crisp, and often had a
final twist also, while the hour-long programs were, for the most part, not as good.
Another episode I liked was People Are Alike All Over with Roddy McDowall and Susan
Oliver. Roddy is an astronaut who lands on an inhabited planet and the folks seem so
kind and welcoming. It's too late when he learns the true reason for all their caring kindness.
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The Meat Puppets perform the YouTube theme song, Scum.
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Well, it's the dogs days of August 1963 in the latest Mad Men episode. so most of the
action takes place outside the office. Conrad "Call me Connie" Hilton invites Don to stay
at a Hilton in Italy. At first Betty is not interested in going, but then she has a change of
heart. While attending a public meeting to boost the chances of the Pleasantville Road
Reservoir with other members of the Tarrytown Junior League, in walks the Rocky aide
who promised to attend the meeting. After the meeting is over, they talk for a bit while
Betty gets into her car, and then the aide kisses her, surprising Betty. Before you can
say temptation, she decides to go with Don to Italy after all. There they have a nice
romantic time and enjoy la dolce vita. Connie seems like a bit of a pain, and so far, he
has spouted enough cliches to sink a ship.
Meanwhile, Pete Campbell's wife Trudy is away, and little Petey is ready to play. He
makes the acquaintance of a little Deutsch girl, who is an au pair for another family
in his building. Petey scores with the fraulein. Ja wohl. He also helps her with a wine-
stained dress, taking it back to Bonwit's to see if he can get a replacement. And who
should he meet there but Joan, the former Sterling Cooper office manager, who, having
left their employ, is now working at Bonwit's. How embarrassing for big Joanie. Marrying
the doctor hasn't paid off...yet. Old Petey is not a complete creep, because he is very
apologetic when Trudy returns.
Little Sally Draper is getting into a bit of sibling trouble, but nothing that seems out of
the ordinary for a girl her age. The oldsters should cut Sally a little slack. Don and
Betty get back from their Italian frolic, and it seems the romance was only temporary.
And hovering in the background, ready to spring, is that fateful day in Dallas, drawing
closer and closer.
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Since You Went Away: Daddy's Coming Home.
Next: So Proudly We Hail.
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Everything's Gone Green Day, When I Come Around.
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Poor old Roman. First the Nazis, then the Commies, and then some two-bit criminal.
Yes, he has suffered. So he has the right to rape one 13-year old girl. Heck, all he's
been through, maybe throw in a eleven and twelve year old for good measure. Because,
after all, he's had a tough life, and that trumps everything.
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Bwana Devil: 3-D Dr. Watson
Next: House of Wax
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Fastest draw in the West? Frederic Remington, hands down. Yeah, I wouldn't put too
much stock in the realism of many Hollywood Westerns. Bet the cops wish they could
still plant weapons like they sometimes did in the good old days. It was self defense,
sir.
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In the early 1960s it was only natural that the possibility of a nuclear war was a popular
plot line. That's what makes them feel a little dated, with such a concentration, under-
standable as it was at the time, on everything nuclear. Some of the better episodes,
like Maple Street and The Shelter, are also relevant today, because they show how
badly people will act when under pressure, real or imagined.
You can go to Wiki and the Twilight Zone article has a a list of episodes you can click
on. That was a good episode. Vera Miles played the woman and I believe Richard Basehart
played the helpful stranger, but don't remember the name of the episode off hand.
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Many of my favorites have already been listed, including Time Enough at Last. Not getting
to finish David Copperfield. I feel his pain. Two good ones not yet mentioned: Believe
the episode was titled Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up or something along those
lines. There is evidence of a spaceship crash, and a group of bus passengers are
stranded at a little diner, so the police come and everybody wonders if someone among them
is an alien. Turns out Martians are only half the problem. Then there was one with Andy Devine
as the teller of "tall tales" in the country store he owns, think the name was +Hocus Pocus and
Frisbey+. He too encounters aliens and gives them what for.
The only problem I have with some of the episodes is the Cold War/Nuclear Destruction
allegories. Some are a little too pat and are obviously dated. Fortunately they don't comprise
a large part of the episodes. And the hour long ones just don't have the same gotcha sting
as the half-hour ones.
IFC is running the old The Prisoner series with Patrick McGoohan on Friday nights. The
visuals look very good. B Seeing U.
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I made it through the first half-hour of the Commie Love Shack. Maybe the camp quotient
went up after that. Not bad, but I didn't want to stay up until 3:20 to see how it came off.
Maybe it will show up some time a little bit earlier, and I'll already have the first half-hour
indelibly etched in my memory. Yeah, the average visuals were just right for the sets.
The best shot was the opening one of Terry Moore in extreme close up with Lee Marvin
in the far background. Pretty artsy, though it gave Terry Moore a temporary case of thunder
thighs. I think Whit was lucky that the only thing Slob added to the burger was part of the
watch.
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Well the maintenance didn't help with the video unavailable problem. NSS. Start all
over with Iris DeMent singing Our Town.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-pDSYPrio fmt=18
Edited by: sineast on Oct 3, 2009 2:12 PM
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Yes, and if you prefer the latest post to be toward the bottom of the page, you still have
to go back to the "first" page instead of the last.
Now that you mention it, I believe Lithgow did sometimes play the bad guy earlier in his
career. He probably could still do it, maybe as the character who seems nice on a superficial
level, but is actually mean and manipulative at his core. As you said before, Obsession
would appear a better film, if one hadn't already seen Vertigo. De Palma played with the
old Hitchcock fire, and he got burnt, or at least singed. Don't mess with the Master.
I thought Robinson was fine in the role of Chris. His plain appearance helped too, and it's
hard not to sympathize with him. Eddie also kept it from going over too far into the ridiculous,
though wearing the apron came close. It's hard not to like Lazy Legs a little, though her
ethics leave much to be desired. As much as one may feel sorry for Mr. Cross, it's hard
not to be a bit cynical and say, Open your eyes buddy, you're getting taken big time.
Of course, if he was more practical, it would be a two-reeler. Ah, love is blind.
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Take a trip in the wayback machine with English metal merchants Deep Purple.
Besides having great riffs, the purple mens' lyrics were usually a notch or two
above the usual "Let me rock you all night baby" stuff. Just say No No No.
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"Okay kid, drop the gun, nice and peaceful-like. Don't make me do something that
we'll both end up regretting."
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When I was over on Suggest a Movie four or so months ago, I suggested My Son John.
For years I've read about this movie, but have never seen it anywhere, and I thought just
maybe TCM would show it. And here it is, part of commie scare evening. Maybe it's just
a coincidence or others have suggested it, but if it turns out to be two hours of dull instead
of a commie camp classic, I'll still feel a little guilty. Hurray for Uncle Joe, the Ruskie
Red Dictator, Did someone call him schnorrer, Hurray, hurray, hurray.
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Damn, I just got used to the new order and now they go and switch it back. I was a little
suspicious about the business partner, played by John Lithgow, if only because that's
who the bad guy is in so many films. And sure enough, that's who was behind it. The
kinky part was that Robertson married his own daughter. Fortunately, the marriage was
never consumated. Close call there. In Vertigo Scotty really was obsessive about
transforming Judy into Madeleine. He was controlling just about everything, clothes,
hair, etc. That leaves a strong impression on the viewer. In Obsession that kind of
behavior on Robertson's part is pretty much absent. It's in a much minor key. De Palma
had an uphill battle, taking on or honoring Hitch, whichever it was, maybe both. It's
a good enough movie, but it really can't compare with Sir Alfred's.
The basic Scarlet Street story of older man, younger woman with a boyfriend her own
age, and the complications that ensue has whiskers on it. This films just adds crime
and murder to the mix. As Kitty Kat says, Chris is really dumb. It's difficult to do, but
he should have paid attention to the old saw, Know thyself.
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The versatile Richard Thompson singing of a lost love that was as sweet as a Beeswing.
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Are We Creeps?!
in General Discussions
Posted
Widmark 'em.