fredbaetz
-
Posts
3,197 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by fredbaetz
-
-
"Jubal" is based on a novel "Jubal Troop" by a terrific author who is mostly forgotten today, Paul I Wellman.He wrote many other western novels that were turned into major films, among them:
The Iron Mistress" the life of Jim Bowie. They did the film with Alan Ladd but only the first half of the book.
"The Comancheros" a great fun read and made into a slam bang movie with John Wayne. Michael Curtiz's last film...
"Bronco Apache" was made into "Apache" with Burt Lancaster
He also did two wonderful factual books "Death on the Prairie" and "Death on the Plains" about the Native Americans which is superb.
Also he wrote another non fiction book called "Dynasty of Western Outlaws"connecting in order outlaws from early America up to the outlaw gangs of the 1930's. A great read if you are into Western heritage.
If you have never read him and enjoy Western novels, give him a try.....
-
Eastwood,Clint-------Director "Play Misty for Me"
-
S- Sergeant Rutledge
-
Vera Miles
-
Guy Madison was in "5 Against the House" with Kim Novak
-
"Battleground"
-
Duryea, Dan
-
Ava Gardner's reply when she was told of Frank's marriage to Mia Farrow..." I always knew Frank would marry a boy someday".....
-
There are a couple of books on Amazon on Lake plus a copy of her autobiography "Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake" but it's a little pricey .......
-
William Bendix always delivered the goods,especially with Ladd who appeared together in about a half dozen films plus cameos in other features. They were good friends for a long time had a falling out but years later patched things up and co starred in "The Deep Six" for their final appearance together. One of my favorites is "The Glass Key" with Bendix as the goon who beats the living daylights out of Ladd and keeps making jokes to his buddy while doing it..." I love this guy, every time I knock him down, he's like a rubber ball. He bounces back up". I think the beating is really brutal for the 1940's.
But from holding off the Japanese invading "Wake Island", having headaches in "The Blue Dahlia" or finding out "What a revolting development this is" as Chester A. Riley in "The Life of Riley" he was the real thing.......
-
I missed tonight's showing, but caught it a few weeks ago, One of my favorite Ladd film. It was so much fun when I sat in the "Formosa" Cafe and talked about it with George Marshall. That was the first I heard about William Bendix being the killer, but the Navy didn't want returning vets being made out as a murderer , and Ladd being paranoid about his height and George telling Ladd, "Just look at Jimmy Cagney, he doesn't try to hide the fact he isn't tall. But it didn't work with Ladd" I would love to see the George Raft version, I never saw it.
I was always a fan of Ladd and most of his films in the 40's up to "Shane". I can't remember where I read it but years ago I read that George Stevens wanted Ladd for the role of Jett Rink in "Giant", but Ladd refused because he would have to take third billing after Taylor and Hudson and Stevens said he never forgave Ladd for turning him down and making him work with James Dean.....I know I read it somewhere......
-
Iz, when you mentioned Brian Donlevy's career of playing "bad/tough guys" I started thinking , "did he do that many good guy roles"..
"The Great McGinty" a tough guy who is reformed...
"Miracle at Morgans Creek" the cameo { did they have cameos back in those days } of tough McGinty
"Wake Island" Tough Marine holding off Japanese forces at outbreak of WW2
"Kiss of Death" tough D.A. with a soft spot for Vic Mature's kids...
"Glass Key" Tough Ward Boss who's a real pal of Alan Ladd...
Just a few roles where he was a good guy, there were quite a where he was the "good guy" , but you seem to remember his "bad guy" characters more.
Even the "Good Guy" roles he was a Tough guy and from what I've heard not to well liked by a lot of co-workers. But a good actor....
Edited by: fredbaetz on May 16, 2010 2:34 AM
-
This is a much underrated "Western" and it's a winner. Glen Ford did some of his best work in westerns as he does here. Jack Lemmon is out of his element as he is suppose to be. Based on a few lines of Frank Harris's autobiography where he joins a cattle drive and reality sets in as to the real life of a "Cowboy" The entire cast peppered with vets like Dick York { before "Bewitched" } and Richard Jaeckel, Brian Donlevy and Strother Martin round out a fine cast with Donlevy stealing the picture with his worn out ex marshal who has seen to much and haunted by ghosts.. If you have never seen it, do yourself a favor........
-
I remember seeing "Broken Arrow" when it first came out and loved it. The story is based on real people and events. Tom Jeffords was in charge of a mail line and after some of his mail riders were killed by the Apaches, he rode into their village hoping to stop the attacks. Cochise was so impressed with this act of bravery that he became friends with Jeffords and finally with the help of General Oliver Howard a peace treaty was signed in 1872 and Jeffords became Indian Agent. Cochise died a year later and because of whites not being allowed to mine for silver on Indian lands, letter writing to Washington D.C. worked and he was removed. Another Apache war started and did not end until 1918. Tom Jeffords became a stage coach driver, lawman in Tombstone, Az , among other things. He died in 1914.Most, not all, of what you see in the movie and read in the novel are true....
-
Henry Wilcoxon seems smitten with Natty Bumppo.....
-
I also posted my opinion on "Unforgiven" below and after watching it last night it hasn't changed. Still a good western not a great one....
-
When I was working at ABC in Hollywood in 1969, I got to talking with one of the Technical Directors { T.D. } Gene Lacahcski } I'm sure the spelling is wrong. Well I ask how long he had been at ABC and it was a lot of years and we were talking about some of the people we worked with and he mentioned Ernie Kovacs. I sat up and said "You worked with Kovacs" and he said yes > Gene said that he TDed most off his shows, He told me the entire crew loved Kovacs and doing his shows. They were always playing tricks on him like putting gold fish in the pitcher of water he was drinking from during a skit among other things. He said the night Kovacs died they had been working on his show and Ernie left because he had to get to Berle's party and that was the last time he saw Kovacs alive. He got a call early next morning that Ernie had been killed in a crash..
Kovacs lucked out when he married Edie Adams.She was beautiful and talented and was a terrific wife to him. When he died he left her with tremendous debts to the IRS. She didn't declare bankruptcy but worked and paid off his debts. I always remember how great she was and looking sexy as all get out as Sid Ceasar's wife in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"....
-
Ernie Kovacs was a genius and understood Television better then anyone and what could be accomplished with it. Sadly while returning from a party at Milton Berle's house he lost control of his car and crashed into a power pole and died at age 42.His talent influenced shows like Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In".Monty Python's "Flying Circus" and SNL.Some of the wonderful characters he created, Percy Dovetonsils the Poet , Eugene , and the great " Nairobi Trio"
His good friend Jack Lemmon stated the Ernie was about 15 years of everyone else in regards to his comic genius.It would be interesting to see what he would have accomplished with today's technology when he did what he had to work with 50 + years ago.....
-
"Hatter's Castle" starred Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr and James Mason. Don't know if it's been on TCM....
-
Here goes trouble.The peaceful image of the Native Americans { Indians } as lovers of a serene and ideal landscape , living in harmony with nature until the White man came and upset the apple cart.
That may be the world of the ideal American Indians tribes in today's viewpoint..But they were right up there with their European counterparts. Before we arrived , there were atrocities committed by them against other tribes. Warfare between tribes was common and brutal. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice, The Iroquois among other tribes practiced slavery, others were cannibals. The Native Americans were a violent and brutal people, just like any other nationality on the face of the earth.
Were savage crimes and brutal treatment committed against the Indians by us. Of course they were committed and it is a disgrace that they were . But, on the other side of the coin, the Indian tribes were on a par with brutal and savage crimes against the whites.So I guess what I'm trying to say is that White, Black, Red or any other color you choose is no more or less deserving of condemnation then any other race.
When you're fighting for your life you will use boiling water, oil, fire or anything else to insure your or your families survival.....
-
As great as he was in "Casablanca" and he was, as far as I and many many other fans of his are concerned , it was "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" that was his greatest performance. The are many other wonderful roles he played on screen but to me it's Fred C. Dobbs and he should have received the Oscar that year...But he was marvelous in "The African Queen".....Put an Amen to it Reverend......
Edited by: fredbaetz on May 10, 2010 12:09 PM
-
John Ford put the "Dodge City" sequence in the film in place of an intermission. James Stewart confirmed this. What Ford was thinking,who knows.. An intermission is for the audience to take a break either bathroom or snack or to stretch the legs during a long movie. If all of a sudden up pops Jimmy Stewart, not many will get up to go the bathroom or the concession stand. It does interrupt the flow of the film and it was a terrible decision on his part and Warners, who did cut it after the opening if I remember correctly...
-
Remember the "Third Rock from the Sun" episode where Dick and them are waiting at the airport for the arrival of the "Big Head" William Shatner. When Shatner gets off the plane he tells Dick about the terrible experience he had on the plane and Dick exclaims "Me Too". The reference to "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". Shatner on the TV and Lithgow in the film version of "Nightmare"...Funny
-
Loved all but "Desk Set", "Pat and Mike" are my favorites followed closely by "Woman of the Year". and "Adams Rib".
The scene in "Desk Set" where Tracy is leaving Hepburn's apartment and Kate and Joan Blondell are watching him go around the wall to the door and he walks back in with his pants pulled down some and his shirt is pulled out and hat is askew with his hands in his pockets and he walking like a drunk, well I'm sure that was a ad lib scene he worked out with Lang the director and as good an actress as Hepburn and Blondell I think they knew nothing about it because their reactions are wonderful....
The Blue Dahlia
in General Discussions
Posted
With the money she made from her autobiography she also co-produced the movie "Flesh Feast", she was trying to clone Hitler { She beat "The Boys from Brazil" by eight years} sadly it wasn't a box office smash. Maybe she figured if Bette Davis and Joan Crawford could do it , so could she. So Sad......