wouldbestar

Finance, I?m with you. He has been a major talent and seemingly a delightful person for a long time and deserves to have his 90th birthday noted. I hope TCM does so. Scsu1975, what kind of nasty pill did you swallow today? This sarcasm is not like you and I find it surprising. I know you don?t have to answer to me but there is such a thing as tact.

I watched All the King's Men last night and stayed to see the 1924 tour of MGM short. Was that ever a true piece of history! From writers to payroll, we got to see how movies of the time were made as well as many famous names in their youth. I loved seeing how sets were built, the way weather "special effects" were created, and the huge collection of furniture et al that used for set decoration. Above all, we saw just how many people's time and hard work went into making the movie that ended up on our neighborhood screens. That hasn?t changed except to get bigger as sound and ever-expanding effects add to the mix, Oh yes, whatever happened to that "find of the year", Lucille LeSeuer? I could have sworn she looked just like Joan Crawford. (Ha Ha) Seriously, did she act under that name before that contest changed it? This is something I hope you show again any chance you get. This was probably the only chance these unsung folks got for a little deserved fame. They did then as today's crews do now.

Is this William Claxton the director who worked with Michael Landon on all his series from Bonanza to Highway to Heaven?

What I?ve learned about this movie in the last two days! I thought you were only supposed to have one thread per topic. I missed seeing the one from June 2nd and started this one yesterday only to discover the other today. Ironically, it also dealt partly with the journal. I remember Casey Tibbs being an integral part of Jack Lord?s 60?s TV rodeo series, Stoney Burke, as he was the man Burke wanted to beat for the championship. I had no idea he had been in competition so long as the difference between the film and series is 15 years or more. I know he did do some acting as I?ve seen his name in movie credits. I have heard some criticism of Montgomery Clift as not right for a Western but they are dead wrong. I think he is wonderful in the role of Matthew and worked well with John Wayne on screen. The problem with the Tess/Matthew romance is not Joanne Dru?s acting-she does great with what she has-but that starts almost too fast to be believed. Later on they make a very likable couple but in other Hawks movies I?ve seen the same thing occurs. Strangely, Marie in To Have and Have Not, Feathers in Rio Bravo, Tom?s unnamed fianc?e (Colleen Gray), and Tess are strong women who stand up for themselves even to those men they come to love, and we understand why that love is returned. The romances in these movies are believable. This is however a minor flaw in the otherwise great movie. I can?t say anything about Margaret Sheridan as I only know her from The Thing and the role wasn?t as showy as Tess. I hope she had a happy life and felt the guy and family were worth the trade-off.. I read in Ireland?s obit that alcohol pretty much ruined what should have been a much better career than he had. It runs pretty deep on both sides of my family and I?m thankful I?ve been able to keep it at bay. If I could just learn to say no to ?just one more? of what?s on the table. Thank you again, fred, for sharing from your seemingly unending well of show business knowledge. It?s always appreciated.

I can't believe that I missed this thread when I had a question about Red River the other night and my question was related to the journal as well. I've only seen the unnarrated b&w version but will look for the other. I know this is a delicate issue but I'd like to see the colorized one as I think it should be illegal for any Western not to be because of the usually beautiful scenery in them. Ant way you cut it, I love this movie.

Easy to Wed has Esther Williams, Van Johnson, and Lucille Ball. It is in color so it's a rare chance to see Lucille's red hair and really beautiful complexion. No wonder she started out as a model. If you liked the original, give it a try and see how they compare.

See today's Hot Topics forum for a thread on Checkmate, a mystery show from the early 60's. It's out on disk.

I just got a look at this thread. I remember seeing posters like them in front of the stand alone theaters back when I was a girl. They always seemed to make the movie seem exciting-unfortunately sometimes more than it actually was. They also helped us figure if the film was one we might want to see or if it was probably "too adult" for us. I hope for more trips down Memory Lane. I can't believe that the one for The Outlaw got past the Breen office in 1943. It would have been "spicy" for a good 20 years afterwards. Now I understand why the movie was so controversial when it came out. I've seen it and am not really impressed except for the music. Classical in a soft porn Western? Who would have thunk it? I tried to watch Les Diaboliques last night but could not make it to the end. It is always fascinating to see how other countries make use of cinema and how it reflects on their cultures. I hope to be able to keep my eyes open all the way through next time.

It's not that I don't like Cary Grant but I can't see him instead of John Ireland as Cherry Valance. Ireland seemed made for the part. I feel the same way about him as Jack Burden in All the King's Men. Whether he was a good guy or bad he always rang true. FredC: Thank you for all that info. It was greatly appreciated. Edited by: wouldbestar on Jun 11, 2010 11:52 AM Edited by: wouldbestar on Jun 11, 2010 1:55 PM

Every time I see Red River I am stunned by the beautiful penmanship of the journal. It's like those examples that stretched atop the blackboards of our classrooms in school. I wish it was mine and I'm sure teachers used it to encourage their pupils to write better. Just who is responsible for this? Also, is this the only time both Careys appeared in the same film? All they needed was Olive for a real family portrait.

I'm glad you are back, too. Did I see in one of your postings that you are an actress and also produce or direct films? Please tip me off on what you have done so I can catch some of it when possible. I've always appreciated your comments and now know why you are so knowledgeable. Edited by: wouldbestar on Jun 10, 2010 3:22 PM

I like the song too and thought Mitchum was a fairly passable singer. I don't think there was a week-end from the late 50's to the early 60's where some drive-in in North Florida did not have this movie on the bill. "Back by Popular Demand" according to them. It was probably the same elsewhere in the South. I can only wonder how many people owe their conceptions to a night at the drive-in while it was playing.

I just watched this film for the first time since reading all the comments in this thread as well as others where it was discussed. This is the second chance I've had to do this in a week after seeing Cheyenne Autumn Friday. You all sure do know how to make a girl think. I've always liked this movie and for the first 90 minutes was enthralled. Then the movie fell apart at the end and the character's actions were hard to rationalize. I understood why Cash hated Indians- they'd killed his father-and why Mama hangs the old man, even if it's wrong. But the end could have been so much better. Ben loses credibility when he orders Andy to kill the Brave so Rachel can't leave. Maybe in her shoes I might have fired on my birth people to save the ones who had raised me but the scene where she kills her brother was done so quickly as if she had no inner turmoil about doing it that I lost sympathy for her. Only Cash, who comes home to help, and Andy are anybody worth rooting for. Even the score by Dimitri Tiomkin, my favorite classic era composer, was not up to his usual great standard. That Italian orchestra made it seem more like a "spaghetti Western" than a first-rate production. I remembered the theme from when I saw the movie in 1960 but little else is worth recalling. If John Huston was right in thinking this was one of his worst, it shows how great he really was at his job. This movie might be a flawed failure but it is far from atrocious. I studied Audrey Hepburn's appearance closely. Skinwise, she didn't look any darker than the white characters and a full-blooded Kiowa would have had jet black hair as did her brother. This is why nobody suspected; it would have been fairly obvious if she had real Indian coloring. I'm not questioning her believability as a actress, you've just opened my eyes as to why Native Americans feel she was miscast. Thanks for helping me to see the movie with "warts and all".

Thank you, Bruce. Since I couldn't even tell a name from a mane, heaven knows how I would have mangled the gentleman's name. I now have it in writing and will look for his work in other films.

Thank you for this thread. I second the motion. She was brilliant in every thing she did. In addition to the movies mentioned I want to add How the West Was Won and Move Over, Darling. In short, your money was never wasted if she was in the picture. What an inspiration to those folks with talent but not what our society considers outer beauty. Hers was inside and shone through like Mary Wickes, Kathleen Freeman, and Hope Emerson. What would the "Stars" have done without their support? I think most of them knew the answer to that.

To Charles Durning, whose name we know, and all those other American, British, Canadian, and men of other countries known only to friends and families: Thank you for risking your lives on this morning 66 years ago to insure that we have the freedom to have something like this thread to express our views on. From the newsreels and movies I?ve seen it must have taken unbelievable courage and conviction that you were in the right to jump off those boats onto those beaches knowing you were facing enemy fire from the get-go. I?m sure you all saw friends and comrades die before your eyes but you kept going. It took another year but those who would have forced their bigoted views on the rest of the world were defeated. I have read articles about how dangerously close the Axis powers came to defeating our forces. The movie about D-Day, The Longest Day, shows a couple of these. One of my area?s papers told this morning of how the assault was falling apart until a General Cota rallied those around him to keep trying to get to higher ground. Other commanding officers followed suit and victory was snatched from defeat. Do we understand any of this? A cartoon back when Saving Private Ryan was released showed a young man coming home after seeing it and saluting his grandfather who had been there. Did we do the same to our kinfolk or acquaintances who for whom this was not a movie but the real deal today? To these men who are reading this-THANK YOU! I wish I could say more.

I would say Aline McMahon and Eve Arden. The "alligator" line from Mildred Pierce is immortal. I never though of Marie Windsor as a wisecracker but I suppose she was. Did she have any idea just how much she was appreciated as an actress by us fans? She was a Star!

Which version is this? There's a 2 1/2 hour one that is so choppily edited that it's very hard to follow and one three hours that I find much better and enjoyable. Oddly enough, David Lynch did not agree and so this is a "Alan Smithee" film. (Yes, I know what that means). That is the one I would want.

Izcutter: Wasn?t this a story that Michael Landon wrote for Dan Blocker?s Hoss to star in but when Blocker died suddenly Landon?s Joe had to be the lead? They worked very well together and in the humorous episodes were a Western Laurel and Hardy. I think the most believable romantic episodes were Blocker?s and he was the best actor of the ?sons?. I must be on to something as the show only went half a season after his death.

No, you?re the first but I remember two versions of the show. In the second, she was newly divorced and was dealing with many of the issues our mothers and we were or would be facing. I recall one scene where she?s filled out a credit application and remarks ?You know things about me my mother doesn?t know? and an episode with Tom Selleck. Neither version went past one season. Do you remember the movie she made with Ed Asner, The Girl Most Likely, where she?s a homely girl in an accident who turns beautiful after her face is rebuilt and gets revenge on her detractors? Joan Rivers wrote the script. All this was just before Grease.

I have-finally-gotten to see this film in its entirety tonight. I tried to put all the postings aside and view it objectively making up my own mind but when the ?Dodge City interlude? came on I saw what everybody meant. Up until then I was totally blown away by how the Cheyennes were characterized and portrayed to the point of tears. The last part of the story should have been equally compelling but this ?comic relief? scene so compromised the film you couldn?t get back to where you left off. It was not the actor?s fault. I know most Native Americans would have wanted their own people in the Indian roles but Roland, Montleban, and Mineo brought dignity and honesty to their parts. That Mineo?s character paid with his life for adultery showed that these ?savages? had a code of honor and families mattered. Watching Patrick Wayne?s Scott go from bigot to human being and Edward G. Robinson?s fight from DC to the frontier made me cheer. Richard Widmark?s Archer has rough edges in the beginning but his love for Deborah and experience smooth them out. If fredbaetz is right and Warners tried to cut the Dodge scene hopefully they might come up with a version without it. The cable rating was three stars; the deletion might make it rate more. Finally, if with was John Ford?s worst film, fxreyman, all directors should be so lucky. I liked most of it and will see it again if I have the chance.

I really enjoyed Warren Oates's work as well. ABC messed up big time when they cancelled the show- which was in the running for several awards-after just one season. Jack Lord had a better chance to show his acting skills as Stoney than McGarret on Five 0 and there were real rodeo competitors playing themselves in the show. Oddly enough Andrew Prine was in another rodeo drama for NBC that same year and it did not make the cut either. As I enjoy rodeos I could not figure out why the series flopped. Fortunately, both stars survived and prospered anyway. I loved Andrew in Bandolero as "Roscoe Bookbinder-a good boy". He was the only character with pure motives and he gets killed-was I PO'd.

After reading Izcutter's comments I have to agree with those who feel we should please let her alone. She has been through so many losses in the last few years that the dredging up of her career will bring those back as well as her career triumphs. If we have to wait until she exits, so be it. If we really love her as a person as well as a star, we will respect her wishes as we want ours to be. Being a public person does not rob her of her human dignity or it should not.

Yes. some women in the service really did look like those in the posters. The WAVE looks quite a bit like my mother did only Mom was even more of a dish according to her in uniform photo. It was not passed down to me. In any event, those ladies, regardless of looks, served their country in whatever way was needed and made their families proud.

I?ve been away for a while because of work but I come back to Rawhide, He and She, The Peoples' Choice, and Hennessey. Wow!+ The Sunday before Rawhide debuted Clint Eastwood was the guest villain on a Maverick episode. In that week?s Friday paper there was a big ad for Rawhide calling it ?the most important full-hour program of the season? and stating it was from the Gunsmoke people. We tuned in and of course I recognized Eastwood. He was the second lead behind Eric Fleming and ahead of Sheb Wholey who was better know as the singer of ?The Purple People Eater? and a casualty of the Black-or should I say Red-list. He and She was for a long time shorthand for canceling a quality show without giving it a real chance to make it. Jack Cassidy was also in it as a eccentric actor friend who worked on a kid show . They didn?t learn from this but did the same thing to Bridget Loves Bernie although I think Jewish objection to the Catholic-Jewish interfaith marriage played a part in it too. I remember The People?s Choice as well. I think Cleo was voiced by Mary Jane Croft who appeared in many comedy shows of the time. The funniest lines were Cleo?s comments on the human?s actions. After everyone found out Sock and Mandy were secretly married and she got pregnant, the steam went out of the show. TV Guide rated Hennessey as one of the all-time best military series. We watched religiously and I know it was one of if not the funniest. My brother could quote lines from it for years. James Komack played a weird dentist and no doubt put his experiences to use when he began producing Kotter and other sitcoms. I found it surprising that his work as Dr. Blair was not mentioned in his obits when he died. The show was on Monday nights and if I remember rightly, in 1961 December 7th fell on that night. They did a very beautiful tribute to the Pearl Harbor attack. Loved the jazzy theme; just heard it again on you tube. Jackie Cooper has done much for TV as an actor and director; it?s nice he?s remembered for this gem. Does anybody remember when CBS tried to bring back Perry Mason in the early 70?s with Monte Markham and Sharon Acker as Perry and Della? They were good but there was no way to get past the original. Lately he?s been a narrator for the History Channel documentaries along with Edward Herrmann. I love these trips down Memory Lane. Please, folks, survive the holiday. I love you all.