wouldbestar
-
Posts
3,670 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by wouldbestar
-
-
Okay, this has been bugging me for years. Gig Young's birth name is listed as Byron Barr. There is an actor listed in the opening credits for *Double Indemnity* with that name but it nobody seems to look like him. What gives?
And I don't care what Mr. McQueen/Jones calls himself as long as he keeps turning up on my TV screen. Where was *Fantasy Island* when I needed it?
-
jamesjazzguitar wrote: While my favorite Bogie movie is The Big Sleep and my favorite Liz Scott movie The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers, Dead Reckoning is a first class production.
Okay, jjg, you've got me reconsidering my choice. The contrast between the "respectable" Martha and the "tramp" Toni-in truth it's the other way around-calls for an actress who is tough and vulnerable. Our girl Lizabeth is definately both and holds her own and more with Barbara Stanwyck. You keep worrying that Toni won't get what she deserves-a life with a man she can love and who can give it back. Let's not spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it and tell the ending. To those folks I saw see it any way you can even ifs its on your computer. You won't be sorry. -
From HIBI: I don't remember Stella Stevens being in the show. Are you sure?
Yes, but not the series. I think she played Lee Grant's role in one of the TV movies that came later. They had so many incarnations that it's hard to keep track. A couple of the nighttime actors went on to the daytime series so it can get confusing putting an actor in his/her proper venue. You're right about the last half of the run; not only were characters coming and going but the writers couldn't keep any continuity going and it just slipped into a shadow of what it had been. Ending it was an act of mercy.
-
I'm for this as well. MovieProfessor, how about one of your wonderful essays on the origins of the studio and why/how it died. The just departed Elyse Knox Harmon seems to have been a leading light as well as Kay Francis and there are some other recognizable names there too. Robert Mitchum, Kim Hunter and Gloria Stuart means they must have done something right.
-
Jake: Thank you for the San Antonio photos. That riverwalk is indeed beautiful and a great way to utilize the river. The Alamo was smaller than I thought it would be which makes what happened there are the more amazing. I also loved how the monument had the names of all the men who dies there inscribed on it. If I ever get to my sister's place in Austin I'm paying for the gas to a trip back there.
-
> {quote:title=casablancalover wrote:}{quote}*Happy Birthday, Gary Cooper..*
>
> Not from a movie, but his quote-
> > Movie acting is a pretty silly business for a man because it takes less training, less ability and less brains to be successful in it than any other business I can think of.
Oh, but he did it so well!
Jake: Nefretiri: I could never love you.
Rameses: Does that matter? You will be my wife. You will come to me whenever I call you,and I will enjoy that very much. Whether you enjoy it or not is your own affair. But I think you will...
They deserved each other even more than Jeff and Kathie in *Out of the Past.* And of course his last line in the movie is now and will always be true, you know which one I mean.
-
{font:Times New Roman}Seeing Tim O’Connor in a *Cannon* episode this morning reminded me of just how many careers that 60’s TV version launched, resurrected or helped supporting players find a measure of stardom. You’d not believe the cast list for those 6 years.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}In addition to Mia Farrow, Ryan O’Neal, Christopher Connolly and Barbara Parkins who were pretty much rookies, Dorothy Malone, Lee Grant and Stella Stevens got much needed jump starts. Mariette Hartley and Leslie Neilson also had roles and old hands Paul Langdon and Evelyn Scott contributed their good work. I could go on. Along with the writing, which was pretty good the first half of the run, that was why it was worth watching and got Emmy nominations with Lee Grant getting one. It was only when the preverbal leave-takings by the most liked actors began that the show began the “shark jumping” slide-the new performers weren’t the same-or it simply ran out of steam. The fact remains that it began a new genre for prime time and without it *Dallas, Knot’s Landing,* or any of the other outright soaps or soap- influenced series would now be a part of our culture. {font}
{font:Times New Roman}Even after the series ended *Peyton Place* couldn’t die. NBC turned it into a daytime soap for a few years and then a couple of prime time movies. In one they killed off Allison and Rodney which seemed to finally kill the premise. Some of the series stars appeared in them but finally the concept came to an end. {font}
-
:0 Re: Gabby Hayes: Are you kidding? That handsome face was behind all those whiskers? Not that I'm complaining but how did he become a "sidekick" rather than a lead actor?
Also, I've never seen Gary Cooper quite that way before. I now know why he was so popular with women on and off screen. With you, a picture is always worth a thousand words, thank you as always.
-
> {quote:title=Sepiatone wrote:}{quote}
> Below the knee seems OK for that period. I believe it was during the "Roaring 20's" that dresses cut ABOVE the knee caused a SCANDLE! Oh, MY!!
>
> Sepiatone
>
{font:Times New Roman}You might be right. This was the decade that saw skirts go from the floor length of thousands of years but never again to hobble skirts to below the knee. I think they were still fairly long at the end of WWI so I question the costumes. We all know they kept going from short to mid-calf and back from the 20s to 70s until the pants suit became the norm and skirts faded into the background except for some business attire and formal wear. I have some flower print ones I wear on Sunday and “dressy” events but realize they might one day be obsolete.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}We forget that this is WWI not II because the movie starts at the beginning of II. I also questioned the whistles, air raids and cars but I’ve never been able to buy the whole story so I guess I question nearly the whole movie.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}One interesting thing is how in trying to make Robert Taylor look middle-aged with light hair and moustache they actually made him more handsome than in the younger scenes. I can tell you that standing on that bridge the thoughts he was inspiring were not chaste. Strangely, he either never let himself go gray for real or died before nature could take its course. Our loss, ladies! {font}
-
She plays the second Mrs Chaney in *Man of a Thousand Faces* Tuesday night; this is about 10 years after *Out of the Past.* This is my favorite Cagney film and I've never thought she wasn't attractive in it or her performance wasn't believable. You might want to check it out for comparison.
-
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Shreveport, LA 1896
To me this looks like a gingerbread or red velvet cake you would see for a Christmas display or centerpiece. I've never seen anything like it. The nice thing is you can't eat this one so it will be staying around for a while-hopefully.
I've never been to Shreveport and don't expect to but I'll know where to head to for Mass if I am. Thank you, Jake.
-
> {quote:title=TCMfan23 wrote:}{quote}I'm not Mexican/Spanish.
>
> I always celebrate Independence Day on July 4th.
>
> It's a Mexican holiday. I don't understand it's importance here in the U.S.
The Wikipedia article stated a semi-trained Mexican army beat a French one twice its size and considered the best in the world while fighting to keep its independence. The French got hold of Mexico for three years but were finally forced to leave. The puppet ruler and some Mexican military "quislings" were executed.
Much of this took place during our Civil War. The Confederacy wanted the French to win because they expected their help against the Union. Had this happened the war's end and its eventual consequences would have been much different. This is what I meant earlier; it's foremost a Mexican holiday but the events celebrated had repercussions for all of us here on this side of the Rio Grande.
-
{font:Times New Roman}I’ve already stated elsewhere why this is still one of my all-time favorite movies. I’ve enjoyed reading the posts from those of you who dislike it as they made me recheck my reasons for taking the opposite view. They are still pretty much the same but the info on Grace Metalious and MovieProfessor’s history of the movie and its sequels was appreciated.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}I disagree with JonnyGeetar about it not seeming to be a 40’s film. It starts out with the possibly of war then goes into it and later on we see a plaque of honor for those who are serving or have been killed, including Rodney. We see Rossi and another citizen reading cards from the boys overseas. Ted is there for Selena but in uniform as is Norman. The story seems to end before the war does. {font}
{font:Times New Roman}Then there’s those sex education booklets in the plain brown rappers that were still around in the late fifties. Parents, who should have been the ones doing it, wouldn’t level with us because they feared we’d “get ideas”. The “good-girl/bad-girl thing was also there for us to muddle through and still is in some ways. Gossip still hurts. Indifference to others plights is still around. What Dr. Swain says in court is still valid.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}I don’t find it boring in the least. Things like the picnic and the townsmen showing up with gift bags for the draftees almost made we wish I was there until Allison and Norman get framed for what Betty and Rodney were up to. I found the situations believable, even Selena’s. Sometimes, life is boring if by that you mean the day in, day out activates of life that never seem to change. Don’t they cushion the highs and lows that would make life too intense if that was all there was?{font}
{font:Times New Roman}Anyway I still love it. Maybe it didn’t win any of its nominations but that’s true of other quality films as well. Til next time---{font}
-
{font:Calibri}Happy Cinco de Mayo!{font}
There's an article in Wikipedia telling why this holiday is important to both Mexicans and U. S. Americans. I had no idea that the outcome of it- indeed the entire Mexican/French War-had such a profound effect on our history. Not having any Latin roots, I was not going to rip off your celebration for those who do but now I guess I can drink a toast or two to it tonight and feel a part of this. Gracias, Amigos!
-
From *12 Angry Men*: Ed Begley as a juror talking about the young Latino defendant:
"Bright? He's a dumb, ignorant slob! He don't even speak good English."
It takes one to know one?
-
The performance that sticks out for me is David Wayne's. In his hands, Ralph is not a monster but a simple man with limited education and no capacity for insight. He has the Southern male idea of what a wife should be that back in the 50s was typical. He makes you feel sympathy for him, not anger. That kissing Grandmas's body is another example, nobody is evil just misguided.
Joanne Woodward is perfect as Eve, Eve, and Jane. I remember seeing a clip of her going to the stage to claim her Oscar in a beautiful strapless gown and the enounce stating she had made it herself. It beat the ones you see costing my clothing budget for the past ten years.
Now on to court with the *12 Angry Men.* What have we done to deserve such riches tonight?
-
I think It was nominated for an Oscar that year in one of the "Best Screenplay" categories. I understand Republic was not known for movies that rate that high so this must have been a real surprise.
-
MissGoddess wrote: Season Five of *"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"* is finally being released on DVD in January. This is the season that has Steve McQueen as one of the guest stars. Also guesting are Laurence Harvey, Brian Keith, Peter Lorre, William Shatner, and in one episode I've never seen, Dick Van Dyke!
Thank you, MissGoddess, for helping me find the episode I've been looking for. It's The Day of the Bullet from Season 5 and when they make it available on line I'll be able to see it again. This is the one with a young Barry Gordon that gave me nightmares back in 60.
-
Is this ever a red-letter day for the character actors! Especially the ladies. Mary, Aline, Beulah and Virginia-real four aces. Ms. Vincent might not be as well known as the others but as an actress she's right up there with her sister performers She was often cast as a "plain Jane" but your photo shows she was no slouch in the looks department. If you can get noticed standing next to Susan Hayward, as she did in *I Want to Live,* you know she was no Halloween mask.
The men are well represented too-Walter Slezak is probably best known today as Erika's father but was a fine actor himself. Another frequent poster has a huge thing for Jack Larue so I know you made her day.
-
{font:Times New Roman}Scott’s longevity as a star might have had to do with the luck of the gene pool in part but I think it was mostly the life choices he made. The real man was a lot like those men he played.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}First, he took care of his body. His physique was that of a man 20 years younger and whatever he did to keep it that way also keep too many lines from his face. This made him convincing as a romantic lead when other men his age were doing character roles or playing with their grandchildren.{font}
{font:Times New Roman}Second, he kept acting. He must have known every inch of the Columbia and WB Western lots by then but you never saw any “2,324^th^ cowboy role; I can do this in my sleep” performances. He had too much integrity to embarrass himself as an actor or cheat the ticket buyers to just “phone it in” even if the scripts were not always the best. We could always know what we were in for the theater went dark and the screen lit up. {font}
{font:Times New Roman}The same could not be said for Bronson. I never failed to tune in or buy a ticket to anything he was in from the mid-50s to mid-60s. His work had sensitivity, vulnerability and caring which belied his appearance (Bernardo O’Riley of *The Magnificent Seven* or Danny from *The Great Escape*). When stardom came he seemed to no longer care. With only a handful of exceptions his work no longer had the old fire. By his death I’d not followed his career for years and any mourning was for what might have been. {font}
-
{font:Times New Roman}*Hangman’s Knot* was not the best of Scott’s movies or even the best I’ve seen this week. That said if you’re a fan of the man, you’ll like it.{font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}{font:Times New Roman}The story starts out like *Love Me Tender:* Confederate soldiers capture Union gold then learn the war is over. They keep it but run into Ray Teal and his nasty men and convince them the real thieves are being hanged in the next town. They capture a coach with a man and woman on board then head for a way station to hide out. The owners are Unionists whose son was one of the soldiers killed when the gold was taken. Teal’s gang comes back wanting the gold and laying siege to the station. The soldiers get no help from the owner’s wife and little except for nursing one of the wounded men from the woman passenger, also a Northerner. Her companion, who wants to marry her, is as double-dealing as Teal only more “civilized” about it. Scott must deal with all of them, his best friend who’s become a sadistic killer, and a young innocent too young to die. He’s also falling in love with the woman and her with him but neither will admit it. Anything else said would be a spoiler. {font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}{font:Times New Roman}First off, Lee Marvin. On-the- job training for *Liberty Valance* with absolutely no redeeming social qualities to speak of. Even his friend and c/o (Scott) can’t stand him anymore. Strictly a man you love to hate. The other villains are Richard Denning, Scott’s rival and Teal who almost outdoes Marvin. He could always sound so smooth and charming when at his meanest. {font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}{font:Times New Roman}Claude Jarman, Jr.: The nice young man you don’t like seeing in a mess like this is a stock character in Westerns but here he has some meat on the bones and writer Roy Huggins gives it a nice twist. Jarman is believable and likable{font}
{font:Times New Roman}Jeanette Nolan is the station owner who has lost husband and son to the war and would kill them all at first. Her new husband is the voice of reason. Donna Reed is the passenger who finds things are not as they first seem and her enemy is now her lover.{font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}{font:Times New Roman}Scott is a pretty tough character at the beginning. He even insists on frisking the woman when they first take over the coach which you never see in a Western. He’s cruel to the station couple until he finds out what she’s lost. He spars with the woman’s companion not realizing it’s because they both want her. We see his composure go when he sees his oldest friend for the fiend he now is. Again I don’t want to spoil the ending but he has do decide just what he wants to do with the rest of his life and we see his pain. Scott makes something more of the role than the script calls for; a lesser actor would have just coasted. {font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}{font:Times New Roman}Again, this is a good but not great movie. It’s easy to see why Huggins never got another to direct. {font}
{font:Times New Roman} {font}
-
I was thinking of her Saturday night when *The Third Man* was on. People who don't think Joseph Cotton cut it as a leading man forgot he got this beautiful woman to marry him after he lost his first wife and they stayed that way until his death. He obviously had something many much-married glamour boys didn't-the nohow to make marriage work and this sensitivity showed on screen in his heroic roles as well . I'm glad it really was as happy for both as it looked. Those costume adventure films she did might not have given her much chance to show her acting talents but she seemed to fit into them quite well. I remember her on that *Perry Mason* episode where she had to "vamp it up" and she did quite convincingly. RIP to somebody who was beautiful inside and out.
-
{font:Calibri}Who was the outlaw with the moustache and high staccato voice? I think he was the director in {font}{font:Calibri}*Singin in the Rain.*{font}
That was Douglas Fowley who was in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. He would later be the Doc Holliday to Hugh O'Brien's WYATT EARP.
I remember him from Wyatt Earp because he replaced Myron Healy but I couldn't convince my mother they'd changed actors. Guess who turned up in *Hangman's Knot?*
This was a really good film. Maybe Roy Huggins was right to quit while he was ahead.
Maybe I was unclear - it's HANGMAN'S KNOT that Huggins directed, but another one that is a must see.
No I probably misread your post.
Sorry for the monster-sized font, the system is giving me grief tonight.
You've obviously never seen any of mine. Big print, little print and all kinds of symbols and text before you can begin to read my message. These things have a mind of their own.
I just found *Hangman's Knot *and watched it. More will follow. If you go to the *Coroner's Creek* link you will be able to access it from there.
Edited by: wouldbestar on May 2, 2012 12:49 AM
-
Lynn, in all the times I've seen this movie I've never noticed this. I'm waking up to it in the morning and will check this out. And I also get my stations mixed up at times. Thank you for the insight; I hope letting you know you're not alone was payback.
I just caught your scene and think you're on to something. Another thought is that the Army is made up of all kinds of people and there's a place for a privileged Eastern guy like Pennell as well as those old vets who know the territory inside out. In the end that doesn't matter as long as they're a fighting team.
Also, these men got little respect, even from their surperiors. The length of time it took to get a promotion was a running joke-3 years for a stripe, 10 or 12 years for 2nd to 1st Lt.-but considering what was being asked of and what it took out of them, this seemed absurd. The thing it did was show their loyalty to the Army and their country. With what's going on today, that part hasn't changed. Thank you to all those for whom this applies.
Edited by: wouldbestar on May 2, 2012 3:23 PM
Okay, jjg, you've got me reconsidering my choice. The contrast between the "respectable" Martha and the "tramp" Toni-in truth it's the other way around-calls for an actress who is tough and vulnerable. Our girl Lizabeth is definately both and holds her own and more with Barbara Stanwyck. You keep worrying that Toni won't get what she deserves-a life with a man she can love and who can give it back. Let's not spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it and tell the ending. To those folks I saw see it any way you can even ifs its on your computer. You won't be sorry. 
Is this ever a red-letter day for the character actors! Especially the ladies. Mary, Aline, Beulah and Virginia-real four aces. 
I was thinking of her Saturday night when *The Third Man* was on. People who don't think Joseph Cotton cut it as a leading man forgot he got this beautiful woman to marry him after he lost his first wife and they stayed that way until his death. He obviously had something many much-married glamour boys didn't-the nohow to make marriage work and this sensitivity showed on screen in his heroic roles as well . I'm glad it really was as happy for both as it looked.
"Peyton Place"...Yawwwnnnnnnnnnn.
in General Discussions
Posted
> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}OH, OK! I didnt watch any of the tv movie reprises, so I missed Stella.
I didn't mean to sound sharp or know-it-all. I was thanking you for making me check my misinformation and setting the facts straight. I can take being found wrong as egg makes a great face mask and I need all the help I can get.