Ascotrudgeracer

A man for whom I worked bought a house on Mapleton in Holmby Hills from Crosby...believe the price back in the 60's was $5 million, I could be wrong about the exact price. Anyway, I was helping him move some stuff in and who comes rolling up the alley in a pickup but Bing himself; a son was driving. "I'm here for my garbage cans...10 of them," Bing announced, none too friendly. The garbage cans were nowhere to be seen and I didn't know what to tell him. So they take off down the alley in a cloud of dust without the cans. The next day -- my boss tells me -- he received a bill in the mail: "$10 for 10 garbage cans...not part of the house."

A great film, we all love it, BUT there are no flowing sources of water in the middle of a Mexican desert, especially on top of a mountain...NOPE! Gold mining in any desert never uses thousands of gallons of water to extract or separate gold. Look it up. People on this board will reply with all manner of explanations regarding how they could have had all this water (while almost dying of thirst a few pages back and a few pages forward) but it is the one big mistake in an otherwise perfect film.

Remember the color process disaster of all time ? "Around the World in 80 Days."

It's easy to get the look of any past era; it's the cameras, len(s) and filters, more than film stock, although the "3-strip" process is essential.

I'm amazed nobody has said: NATALIE KALMUS yet ;-D

Color shot today is so inferior to an average Technicolor musical from the Eisenhower era (and earlier), it is so obvious. Just like the airlines...worked perfectly 50-40 years ago, in style. Now flying is a dehumanizing nightmare (don't start with the terrorism stuff; they got lucky once while the Bush Administration was asleep at the wheel). Cars? Who would choose a Toyota over a '56 Merc, or a '36 Cord? What would you give to spend a year in Beverly Hills, and the year is 1957?

Especially when Arlen was cross-examining Anita Hill about Clarence Thomas! Is there such a thing as a Pennsylvania accent, from the region of Jimmy's birth?

Somebody said it...I was faded out, but how true! Cagney, Stewart, Bogart, Gable, Barrymore (add you own) NOBODY in real life talked like those guys. How about Durante?

Milland's thirsty stroll up pawn shop row could be regarded as one of the finest moments in cinema...he had five other great moments. Still, there were slapstick drunk moments in the bars that irritated me. But forgetting Franciosa's "A Hatful of Rain" ... shows how senior MY moments are.

wouldbestar's post stirs up 2 memories for people like us, kindred spirits (I've been told "soulmates" is too much): 1) Sneaking out of bed after being ordered to bed, because the best stuff was on late, of course! 2) You didn't get to see the ending, you didn't remember the ending, or the most freakish thing...the ending was different than you remembered. We are the children of the night; a subculture of latchkey kids who spent most of our lives alone, with televion giving us our cues on how to get along.

Loved Arliss' spit curl as the PM (someone with a better confuser than mine can post that picture; I do all this on an iPhone.) I understand Arliss was something of a leader of ex-pat Brits in their Hollywood colony. Amazing that with all the blatant and lethal anti-semitism in his country that a Jew could rise to PM.

I forgot! Tony Franciosa plays Polo Pope, the heroin addict's brother in that great one from 1955: "Hatful of Rain" and does a realistic drunk. Result: Academy Award nomination...and a career!

"Leaving Las Vegas" ...Cage wins the Oscar.

Van Heflin -- for some strange reason -- did his corny, staggering head-bobbing drunk act in a few films. Quite repellent, I say. Walter Brennan's drunken sailor to Captain Bogart's fishing boat was funny: "Ever been stung by a dead bee?"

Absolutely kerrect! Crosby delivers a brovura with his realistic portrayal of a dipsomaniac. The tortured man he played...Bing knew all too well. I have a true, personal Bing Crosby story that I plan to post, but I will not do it unless at least 100 people on this board want to read it. --Ascot

Do you find the average "playing drunk" in any movie as silly and painful to watch as I do? Yet there have been character actors who made a career from it. I'm no fan of Nick Cage, but he figured out that a drunk never tries to act drunk; a drunk tries to act sober. This is what won him his Oscar.

Amen! Could never understand the attraction anyone could have toward Chevalier. Like he could sing? Act? Huh? He WAS creepy and goofy.

I believe this masterpiece showcases the finest performances of their entire body of work of the following talents: Kerr, Lancaster, Hayworth, Niven (especially David Niven). Imagine the disaster if anyone had the hubris to attempt to remake this film. A perfect movie. Perfection.

Slightly off-topic, but I must ask: Why were most British musicals so dreadful? Just plain painful to watch, my feeling. Edited by: Ascotrudgeracer on Feb 2, 2011 8:28 PM

That was an incredible post; you made me change my mind about a couple of things, and I'm grateful. Must ask you...did Cooper RUIN "The Fountainhead" (in your opinion) or ???

WOW! I never thought about that, but I believe it. Could see Huston pulling such a trick, especially when you consider no one would ever know (ha!) and how much $$$ it would save. I really appreciate your post: Osborne could validate it, if he felt like it.

And there is this... There was a time when ALL comedy was ethnic stereotypes, and everybody laughed. The Irish were drunks, Jews were cheap, Mexicans were lazy, Arabs were camel jockies and harem whores...all groups were "roughed-up" EQUALLY! Negroes loved watermelon...big deal! And everybody laughed. It's gone forever and it's too bad. Everyone knew that it was all in good fun, nobody thought all southern whites were hillbillies, but joking about them as if they were made people howl. Today's political correctness is boring, and it just might be fatal for this country. Nowadays, we as Americans aren't even allowed to make fun of our nation's enemies! Edited by: Ascotrudgeracer on Feb 1, 2011 5:50 PM

Yes, this comes up all the time on this board, but you are right. Cinephiles are overjoyed when they find TCM and there is nothing more satifying than finding a gem they have never seen from the 30's, 40's and 50's, or get a classic they haven't seen in decades, and I think some feel betrayed when something recent gets aired. Then the worry: "Is this a trend, a direction?" Still, it's the best chance we have to see the classics. I'm just happy the commercials for insurance companies haven't started. It must be tempting for the bean counters at Turner; they have demonstrated integrity and courage...thus far.

I regret starting this thread. But there is something about the rehab industry, the prices they charge, the failure rate (always blaming the patient, not their treatments) and people always looking for "supports" rather than being independent and SELF-reliant, that is irritating to me. Since no one here agrees with me, I will admit I am wrong, as usual, and I apologize sincerely to anyone I have offended.

Great reference! At least Marvin credited the horse for his Oscar...sure **** off Rod Steiger.