SansFin

I wish to alert all to a beautiful and wonderful movie being aired as TCM Import this next Sunday. I hope all who are able will watch *Cranes are Flying* (1957). I have posted more on it in the General Discussions thread but words fail me to express how beautiful and stunning and awe-inspiring it is.

I feel it is unfortunate that I must be the person who calls attention to this wonderful movie because there are some here who will dismiss it as "another foreign/Ruskie film" because of my talking of it but I fear that it is so obscure to American audiences that many would not watch it if there is not a notice of it. This is one of the greatest movies of all time. It has many times been called the most beautifully filmed Black&White movie. I believe it is one of the most deeply moving and passionate movies ever made. It is a simple story told in a stunning way. Those who fear subtitles have little reason to avoid this movie as the music and composition of the scenes tells the story and there is little dialogue. It is not a typical war movie. It is about love and hope and fear. It shows the soul and not the blood and guts. A trailer for it is at: There is much more to say of it but words fail me.

The Now Playing guide indicates it is a premiere. I like this movie very much. I have long wished it was available on DVD.

I believe it was slaytonf who won the last Challenge and I seem to remember a comment that the next one would likely be in July.

I find his appeal is much in that he is a gentleman and as such you know that he may very well lie to you to cover his shortcomings or he may have affairs or he may steal from you but he will never mean to hurt you and he will be truly sorry if he finds he did hurt you. He is reasonably handsome and I imagine that he is a good dancer. I can not imagine him as a suitable husband but I can relish the idea of a fling with him.

It was noted by a poster in some other thread that Hugh Griffith was unlikely as the father of Audrey Hepburn in: *How to Steal a Million* (1966). I do not notice age difference in marriages much as two of one of my uncle's wives were much younger than he and one of my classmates in school married a teacher.

Several formal gardens were shown in: *To Catch a Thief* (1955). They were only places to stand or walk through and I do not remember any of them being important to the story. I would like very much to have a fairy door in a garden.

I wish to warn all of a major evil which has appeared on the Internet. It is GeoGuesser at: http://geoguessr.com/ It appears to be a simple and harmless amusement to guess the location shown by a random Google streetview. You can rotate the view to find clues by clicking on the view and dragging it to show from all angles. You then pick the location on a map. It shows then how far from real you were and gives you points for being close. A 'game' is five guesses. *This is evil.* I thought to do one game. An hour later I thought to do only one more. I was not able to wrest free from its clutches until an hour and half later! I can say only in defense of some of my errors that many people from Ireland moved to Australia and it is to be expected their housing should look very much alike and that people in Brazil and New Zealand are likely also to have much in common.

I o not know if you wish to include animated movies. *Alice in Wonderland* (1951) begins with her napping in a garden and many of her encounters are in a garden or with creatures which are often found in one. The flowers declaring she is a weed is one of my favorite scenes. There is a tiny garden in: *My Neighbor Totoro* (1988). The girls plant the seeds given to them by the Totoro believing they must be magical.

> {quote:title=Sepiatone wrote:}{quote} > I'd like to have dinner with Greer, but breakfast in bed with Alexis. Men! All you ever think about is food!

> {quote:title=markbeckuaf wrote:}{quote} > I hope you will share with us how you thought about THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR?? It was in many ways what I believed it would be and it was in several very important ways very different from what I expected. Lewis Stone played his role in his typical understated style and it was as if I was looking in on an old friend. Dame May Whitty played her role with excellence as always but I was not comfortable with the character. I believe the role was not written for her as it did not have her inner strengths. I do not wish to give a spoiler for those who have not yet watched it but I was reminded of the old advice that if you throw a thing up very high it is very well hidden for a very short period of time. > My plan is to try to stay on top of things weekly as much as possible! I have taken on the philosophy to take each day as it comes. It is sad to say that it seems of late that two or three days are ganging up on me at once.

It is sad to say that I do not know of the shorts being available for purchase. I believe that the shopping part of this site would have them if they are at all available. Short films most often are the very last things to be placed on the schedule. It may require you to check the on-line schedule each week to see if that one is being aired anew.

It is very nice to see you have returned to posting the weekly grooves. I will forgive you your recent neglecting of your duties because it is so very nice to have you when we can. I have not watched yet *The Thirteenth Chair* (1937). The description and cast was intriguing and so I had it DVRed. The odd thing for *The Falcon Strikes Back* (1943) is that the description in the guide is reasonably accurate. That is a thing very rare for the Falcon movies. It is sad to say I will not be able to watch *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935) when it airs or listen to the comments as Saturday evenings are now Doctor Who time. We are recording all of *Judex* so that we may watch it when it is complete. I believe that it is a fantasy that I will ever have so much free time in one piece that I will be able to watch more than two episodes in one day but I would hate to have the time but not the next installment. I must wonder if *Carry on Spying* (1964) is part of the series of movies. I will have to research that. I find some of them wonderfully funny and I find others dreadfully dull. *Hide-Out* (1934) is indeed a movie with which to groove! It is sad that the schedule lists it as a drama and that the description is so very wrong as I am sure it will cause many people to not have interest in it. *Mr. and Mrs. Smith* (1941) is totally groovilicious! *My Life With Caroline* (1941) is one also which is groovy to the max! It is not easy to say if I prefer *The Last of Mrs. Cheyney* (1929) more than the (1937) version. It will never be easy for me to decide between Basil Rathbone and William Powell. I do hope this signals a return to weekly grooves!

> {quote:title=infinite1 wrote:}{quote} > Why TCM does not screen problem films well before they air them to determine if they are still edited versions? I believe it does not require specific knowledge of TCM's philosophy or operations to know why they do not do that: There are so many premieres and so many not-recently-aired movies that it would require two full-time staffers in dedicated viewing rooms to have all of the movies watched before airing. The number of movies with obvious flaws is so very tiny that it could not justify such an expense. It is likely also that no action could be taken if a flaw was found. I had a very short internship at a small independent television station and it was usual to receive on Tuesday the movies which were to air the following weekend. To check movies for more than the correct title was not viable and a bad print could not have been replaced within that timeframe.

I believe this may not qualify as "romantic" in the sense meant by the original poster but I would very much like to have Lauren Bacall and Kim Novak and I to spend an evening bar-hopping to pick up men. I am sure I would learn much by watching their techniques and I would be happy to settle for their close-but-no-cigar rejects.

> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote} > (unless one thinks the vast majority of the people in the USA are hicks?). It is a simple fact that half of all people are below average. I believe that people with clearly defined interests will find forums and sites dedicated to those interests so that they can learn more within their interest and share their knowledge and opinions with others who share that interest. The social networking sites appeal most to muddle-headed people.

Also Philo Vance and Mr. Wong and Mr. Moto!

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > $10,000 would completely replace her already lavish wardrobe? She must have spent it at Wal-Mart. I believe the apparent discrepancy can be attributed to the joke originating at a time when most clothing cost less than two-bits and a woman felt special if she had a real and true $2-Sunday-Go-To-Meeting dress.

> {quote:title=Sepiatone wrote:}{quote} > I was glad to read that they DO pay attention to these message boards( if it's true), and NOT exclusively to those who attend the festivals or cruises, as those are venues of limited feedback. I believe we have more to fear of our voices being ignored because of Facespace and Twts. The social networking sites cater to lower denominators and by that have a far larger mass of people and those people are often more vocal.

Of greater interest to me is *The Killer* (1989). It is said by many to be John Woo's best. I have seen only tiny bits of it and I am intrigued by how what I have seen fits into the whole.

> {quote:title=infinite1 wrote:}{quote} > But none of this still answers the question as to why there are so many repeats in the course of a year. The article explains that quite clearly. It quotes Mr. Tabesh: ?So we try to structure deals with all the studios where, in addition to the traditional way of licensing a film, say, for twelve months or two years, and getting a certain number of runs within that period of time, we say, ?Let us also dip into your library for one run of a film... " It is plain that if: "...the traditional way of licensing a film... [is] a certain number of runs within that period of time... " then the vast majority of movies they chose will have to be repeated during the course of the licence and that it is a special situation when they can licence a movie for a single showing.

> {quote:title=Mr.Froy wrote:}{quote} > I keep my BS detector/amp set on 11. I believe that must mean that you believe there is little BS. It is appropriate to turn up the gain on any detector only when it searches for a thing which is scarce and difficult to find.

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote} > such delicate balance to support a feather...lots of lessons there, for those that would have the heart to see them. It makes me very happy that you like it. I believe it touches me deeply because it must be done so very delicately while it involves such great weight. I know of no way to calculate it but I believe the parts must exceed eighty pounds. I see in it great concentration, balance, delicacy, artistry and strength. I have searched and I can find no history of it. It seems to me that a work which is based on such a simple concept should be part of some culture's traditional art. I know I am reaching into a stereotype to feel that it is appropriate that she is Oriental. There are men who perform the same and they do not strike me as appropriate even although I do like watching athletic men who are bare-chested performing graceful routine.

I am very sorry for being so off-topic but I found a thing so very beautiful and gentle and wondrous that I must share it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnDeo0yhIws&feature=youtu.be I do so hope that it will appeal to those here.

I thank you for the link. I believe that most of the common complaints which are oft repeated on this board are addressed. It was sad to see that the TCM Programming Challenge was not mentioned as a vehicle for requesting movies. I must wonder why the author entitled it: "10 Things I Learned at the TCM Classic Film Festival" and then presented eleven items. Was one of them know to him prior to the festival?