LoveFilmNoir

I truly am sad today. RIP Dennis Hopper

> {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote} > LoveFilmNoir wrote: > *I have a strong feeling that is Laird Cregar has lost the weight and survived, he would have evolved into a character actor....there are other slim "bad guys" that would have over shadowed him - Dan Duryea, Neville Brand, Lee Marvin etc.* > > The reason Laird Cregar died was because he lost so much weight in so little time. The reason he lost the weight was so that he would no longer be considered a character actor . . . he saw himself as a leading man. Who knows how it would have turned out for him. This I know, and it was pretty unfortunate how he died but at the time of his death, he had leading roles in his last two films but I think he wantes to be a romantic lead vs playing killers or wierdos. However, I don't think he had the "umph" Hollywood looked for in casting leading men. I think whether slim or overweight he would have always played villains and in older age a lovable or cynical father/grandfather

double post

Very good observations about Clifton Webb. I think his effeminate presence on screen is what really had people thinking that Vincent Price (or even Dana Andrews) character was the real killer up until the end of *Laura*...the film is a really thrilling 90 minutes and one of the best noirs ever. Clifton Webb was also great in *The Dark Corner* for the same reason he was great in Laura. This film helped me realize the dramatic talents of Lucille Ball (I also loved her in Lured - her small contribution to the noir genre is VERY appreciated by me) as well as Mark Stevens. I have a strong feeling that is Laird Cregar has lost the weight and survived, he would have evolved into a character actor....there are other slim "bad guys" that would have over shadowed him - Dan Duryea, Neville Brand, Lee Marvin etc.

Charlotte Greenwood is someone who comes to mind.

I have quite a few but some years back I had my car keys in hand, purse on my shoulder and getting ready to turn off the TV and head out to run some Saturday morning errands when Edmond O'Brien took it upon himself to stumble into the police dept and report his own murder. All I remember was watching the first 5 minutes standing up, hitting the record button (which recorded from the beginning) and still managed to find my way to the couch, feet up....that movie, even though I was recording it, displaced my day by 90 minutes. *D.O.A.* is what really helped introduce me to film noir beyond the usual suspects *Double Indemnity*, *The Maltese Falcon*, *Sweet Smell of Success*, *Sunset Blvd* etc....I know it is a PD film but I still hope it gets the Criterion treatment some day!

> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote} > And also I will probably not watch anything on the Jacques Coustea day but that doesn't mean I am going to complain because *one day* is dedicated to this man on his centennial. The issue is some people on here seem to think the channel is all about them. One day is the key word! I bet these films never see the TCM channel again in the next couple of years.

Call me a prude, but the BIGGEST problem I have with remakes of classics is the SEX....how do you go from a film with a well written script where sex is implied or is a "background" theme in some character's motives to just seeing it blatant on your screen in a remake....undies and all? Could you imagine a 2039 Gone With the Wind? Scarlet would probably be in a Victoria's Secret original while Rhett would be some tanned oversexed beach babe! With these remakes in the current day...a well written script is replaced with sex, sex, too many special effects....oh yeah, and sex. I say no thank you to a Mildred Pierce remake...even though it came from a novel and took so many liberties, I want to remember only Joan Crawford in the title role during my lifetime. Selfish? Hell yeah.

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > ......but Payne early in his career was primarily in musicals, unlike Power. I had NO idea of his acting range until I saw "Kansas City Confidential"...great film....I really wish more Fox movies from the war era were screened on TCM and discussed on this board....I have so many opinions....one being that I strongly believe a long term contract at Fox under Darryl F. Zanuck was a road block more than a stepping stool. Sorry for my off topic posts in this thread! Although I am still watching the films I taped from May 19th....

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > THE APARTMENT was from 1960. "Nuff said. Agreed.

While this is an interesting debate....I have to say I feel bad for Mr. Cousteau! While I have opinions that could go on both sides of this debate, it is his centennial anniversary and I am much pleased that TCM is doing this for him (I haven't seen ANY of his work and I look forward to catching a few titles). There will be quite a few centennial anniversaries coming up for many stars of the Golden Age from all the major studios and I hope they will get the SOTM treatment from TCM or at least a full 24 hours of their films including premieres in prime time. I was like a fat kid in a candy store the entire month of December 2009 for Humphrey Bogart's (thank you again for that month TCM). I definitely have my popular (and unpopular) opinions of TCM's programming and I definitely think this is one of those threads that the programmers, market researchers etc should read and really focus on certain points people have made. I think with time, technology, and options (Netflix, additional movie channels, videos on demand, etc) all movie channels are evolving (I have watched HBO and Cinemax evolve in the last 15 years)....but with a station like TCM with such a niche market, a loyal and observant viewer (as well as TCM themselves) has to ask themselves about this evolution, if it is going too fast, or in the wrong direction and how they can accommodate both sides in the process. Again, I have enjoyed reading this thread....and because Gene Tierney is getting a day in August, I promise to keep my board b****ing to a minimum for the duration of the summer. LOL

Gaslight and Notorious hands down!

> {quote:title=faceinthecrowd wrote:}{quote} > Michael Redgrave in THE BROWNING VERSION. And all of *Victor Mature's performances were admirably underplayed.* This is why I love Mr. Mature so. I may be misunderstanding this thread topic but Claude Rains in Mr. Skeffington was underplayed - which is what made him Mr. Skeffington and made Bette Davis the wild Mrs....I just love his character in the film and I silently root for him each time I watch it. Strange, I know.

> {quote:title=audreyforever wrote:}{quote} > He was SOTM in December of 2008. I wouldn't mind him again, but unfortunately it will be a while before he's SOTM again. You are right, he was! (I forgot who was the one speaking in the interview they show for the star of the month in between movies back then - was it Patricia Medina? Anyway, I remember I did quite a bit of traveling that month and so I missed some movies/commentary) I just love so many of his films...even if he is just a bit player (Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Money Trap and Soylent Green) or films that are considered "rare" today (Half Angel with Loretta Young). He just seems to have something indescribable in his presence in films be it as a villain or family man. I am trying to find his out of print autobiography. From what I have read about him, he was easy to work with on screen and get along with off. He also never divorced (nor had any children of his own I believe). His first wife died, and then he married Patricia Medina up until his death. Joe Cotten: great actor, great guy.

John Huston and Orson Welles in no particular order.

Well Red Velvet Swing was on this morning and will be on again on MoreMax in a week or so. I wonder if HBO/Cinemax let you request films....although I have no idea what libraries they have access to. But you have a better chance catching a Fox film there than on TCM (and even on FMC for some titles)

*> {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote}* *> MoreMax seems to be the channel from the Cinemax family that shows the occasional movie classic, several times a week, usually in the wee hours, often from the 20th Century Fox film library. The same with HBO Signature.* This is correct. I have DirecTV and channels 503 (HBO Signature) and 517 (MoreMax) show a film from before 1980 daily somewhere between 3:30AM and 8AM. They show one before 1960 at least 3 or 4 times a week. Mostly Fox titles but the occasional United Artists or Universal title. I have recorded the following films in the last 30 days and some will be repeated soon as well: The Sun Also Rises The Rains Came Hello Frisco Hello To The Shores of Tripoli Weekend in Havana Fallen Angel The Glory Brigade Sweet Smell of Success Written on the Wind Girl in the Red Velvet Swing I have recorded SEVERAL classics on these two channels in the past including Lubitsch's Heaven Can Wait, and several Grable and Power films. The programmer for these channels seems to have a love affair with Tyrone Power films and at the end of the summer of 2009 had a love affair with Grable films.

lzcutter - thank you for that reference....here is the official for 2010 1.) Basil Rathbone, 2.) Julie Christie, 3.) Steve McQueen, 4.) Ethel Barrymore, 5.) Woody Strode, 6.) Ingrid Bergman, 7.) Errol Flynn, 8.) Bob Hope, 9.) Warren Beatty, 10.) Kathryn Grayson, 11.) Walter Matthau, 12.) Norma Shearer, 13.) Robert Ryan, 14.) Gene Tierney, 15.) Margaret O'Brien, 16.) Lauren Bacall, 17.) Robert Stack, 18.) Ann Sheridan, 19.) Walter Pidgeon, 20.) Katharine Hepburn, 21.) Paul Newman, 22.) John Mills, 23.) Elizabeth Taylor, 24.) John Gilbert, 25.) Maureen O'Hara, 26.) Lee Remick, 27.) Olivia de Havilland, 28.) Peter O'Toole, 29.) Henry Fonda, 30.) Thelma Todd, 31.) Clint Eastwood

> {quote:title=rdmtimp wrote:}{quote} > When I learned Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Kate Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Irene Dunne and Marlon Brando never received it, I was pretty shocked....I wonder if these people were ever offered the award. > > Maybe they were, but declined - I could definitely see Brando, Hepburn and Newman doing that. Shortly after I posted this I realized I too could see those three saying a hearty "no, thanks" especially Brando and Hepburn. From what I have read, Hepburn would rather do an interview for a special or bio on one of her fellow actors/actresses than herself. *lzcutter* - thank you for your input. I definitely believe the film sources have much to do with it all. Although I believe the Welles and Hitchcock tributes were uploaded from AFI themselves (Cagney's definitely was). I know Hitchcock died less than a year after his tribute so I wasn't sure if maybe he was somewhat ill and really had done takes. The editing is very confusing.

Love him in *Laura*, *Dragonwyck*, *The Long Night*, *Leave Her to Heaven*, *His Kind of Woman* (he was in rare form for a noir), *The Bribe*, *The Las Vegas Story*, *While the City Sleeps*, and later in his career, *Whales of August*. I am not big on the horror genre but he definitely has a diverse body of work that qualifies him to be SOTM outside of the month of October.

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > ...FALLEN ANGEL is also on FMC quite frequently. Hasn't been for a while because it is making its rounds on HBO/Cinemax. It is appearing on More Max between 3AM and 6AM in the next 2 weeks. I have Fallen Angel and Where The Sidewalk Ends on DVD....both great films. I love Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell and Alice Faye as well as the "Street Scene" music from WTSE so I never get enough of these films.

I read up on the "snubbing" of the greatness that is Peter O'Toole and I will never understand it.....just like I will never understand how Joseph Cotten was snubbed/overlooked his entire career. His work outside of his connection to Orson Welles is damn good and from what I have read up about him, he was pretty great on stage and radio. Nichols filmography as a director isn't that "wow" but I am so caught up in this weather I am drawing blanks on who I would suggest (the one who came to mind is the lovely Lauren Bacall but I am completely biased and can admit that) When I learned Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Kate Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Irene Dunne and Marlon Brando never received it, I was pretty shocked....I wonder if these people were ever offered the award. Off topic: I watch AFI clips on youtube and Hitchcock's tribute was weird....it almost looks like it was edited and/or had takes. Is he sitting and standing up between shots? And Orson Welles tribute - the lighting was so off, like a concert or something. The film quality is awful. Yet Cagney's (the 2nd one and in 1974) was in good condition. Does anyone know?

This thread is hilarious! I am enjoying it...I hope *Hot Rods to Hell* is included in your future commentary.

I was hoping the mini-series "Grand Avenue" was shown....it was on HBO maybe 10 years ago and was great.

> {quote:title=primosprimos wrote:}{quote} > Actually, wouldbestar, I'm sorry to hear that. The show and all its siblings gave a lot of work to a lot of character actors, both in NY and in CA. > > What with the proliferation of moronic reality shows clogging the arteries of the small screen, I feel for the actors who will find it harder to get meaningful work. Sad when you realized washed up musicians/athletes or local nobodies turned reality stars are making more money and getting more work than trained actors.